Ukraine Peace Track: Miami Talks End Without a Deal — and Trump Tells Ukraine to "Get a New Leader"
UPDATE (Oct 10–11, 2026): the rupture is now open. The largest US-Ukraine-Europe diplomatic round of the war ended in failure, and Washington responded by publicly calling for regime change in Kyiv — while Europe races to occupy the sanctions space Trump just vacated.
The Miami round — eight hours of talks Friday (Oct 9) between Witkoff, Kushner, Ukrainian and European officials — ended without a breakthrough, and the Ukrainian delegation flew home Saturday. Per the NYT: "Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that the talks in Miami had ended without a breakthrough. Trump's diesel announcement a 'weak decision.'"
Trump, on Saturday, went after Zelenskyy personally: "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does." The WSJ framed it as the bottom: "The clash marks a new low point in White House relations with Kyiv as Russia escalates its bombing of Ukrainian cities."
The trigger was the diesel deal, announced mid-talks Friday after Trump's 90-minute call with Putin: 300,000 tons of Russian diesel "immediately," 500,000 more in November, 1,000,000 "immediately thereafter," with a Treasury general license allowing Russian diesel flows until April 7, 2027. Axios's insider account says Trump moved after Zelensky ignored "half a dozen" requests to stop striking Russian refineries: "Zelensky is misreading the room. By continuing to hit refineries, he is eroding the good will that he has built with Trump over the last six months," the US official said. A Ukrainian official says the envoys threatened Trump could cut off US intelligence if the strikes continued (the US official denied a threat was made). Zelensky told Axios the deal was "not fair and not honest" — a "gift" to Putin.
Hours after the announcement, five glide bombs hit residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, killing 20 people including three children — the third mass-casualty attack of the week (~80 civilians killed Wednesday–Thursday, see Kramatorsk Bus Strike — Deadliest Single Attack of the Year — Caps Russia's Winter-Setting Assault Wave). Zelenskyy on X: "Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia.1" And: "Last night confirmed once again that in Russia, they take any easing of pressure to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they can keep dropping bombs on cities. Different signals are needed."
Putin, for his part, declined to commit to resuming peace talks. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Ukrainian strikes on Moscow during the Duma elections "thwarted the possibility of an immediate resumption of the negotiation process," quoting Putin: "we will think about when these negotiations can be resumed." On the call's warmth: "Neither wanted to be the first to hang up… They hung up simultaneously, literally at the same time."
What the Miami round actually negotiated (per Axios): US/Europe/NATO security guarantees, territorial solutions, postwar reconstruction funding, an EU-accession roadmap, Ukraine's postwar NATO relationship — and a possible "Europe-Russia postwar security framework" floated by the envoys. Witkoff and Kushner are considering Moscow and Kyiv visits next week.
Europe's countermove came within a day. Kaja Kallas on Saturday: "This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won't… On Monday, EU foreign ministers intend to approve the biggest set of sanctions listings targeting Russia's war machine since the start of the war"2 — some 1,600 new individuals and entities. Berlin said support for Ukraine "remains unwavering"; Kristersson expressed "regret," calling energy revenues "a vital source of funding Russia's war of aggression." UK PM Burnham held a solidarity call with Zelenskyy and the two agreed to meet in person in the coming days (Burnham's Rejoin Gambit: Macron Says "Welcome Back," No 10 Polls the Country — and Brussels Signals the Bar Is 80%).
What it means: the US mediation has flipped from broker to enforcer — pressure now points at Kyiv (intel-cutoff threat, refinery-halt demands, leader change) while pressure on Moscow eases (the diesel license), exactly as the Graham Act "name names" deadline of Oct 18 approaches (Trump Signs Graham Russia Sanctions Act — 100% Tariff Authority Aimed at China and India, Days Before the Xi Summit, Graham Act Deadline: Four Days Out, Washington Signals Waiver — the Diesel Deal Makes Tariffs on Russia's Buyers Incoherent). The EU's Monday sanctions package is the first test of whether Europe will harden where Washington softened.
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An instance of Concessions to Moscow are cashed as escalation, not peace. — Hours after the concession Russia escalates civilian strikes and Putin declines to commit to resuming negotiations. ↩︎
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An instance of Where Washington unlocks, Europe locks down. — As the US mediation flips to pressuring Kyiv and licenses Russian diesel, Kallas answers with the war's biggest sanctions wave — Europe locking down exactly what Washington unlocks. ↩︎