WASHINGTON, United States, Feb 1, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US envoy Steve Witkoff said Saturday he had held constructive talks with a Russian envoy in Florida as part of the US drive to end the war in Ukraine.

The meeting came just a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to end the nearly four-year Ukraine war.

"Today in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the U.S. mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict," Witkoff posted on X.

"We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine," he added.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House Senior Advisor Josh Gruenbaum also attended the talks, he said.

Earlier Saturday, a source close to the talks had told AFP that they had started at 8:00 am (1300 GMT) and that Dmitriev had arrived in Miami.

Neither side released details of what was discussed.

Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's top economic envoy, met Witkoff and Kushner in January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He also held talks with US negotiators on Ukraine in a visit to Miami in December.

The second round of talks in Abu Dhabi are set to start on Sunday, even if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested earlier this week that it might be postponed because of the US-Iran crisis.

Teams from Ukraine and Russia met Friday and Saturday last week in Abu Dhabi in their first in-person negotiations on a plan being pushed by President Donald Trump to end the war.

The US says both sides are close to a deal, but they have so far been unable to find a compromise on the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement, according to Kyiv.

The Kremlin on Friday said President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a pause on striking Kyiv -- ending Sunday -- following a request by his US counterpart Donald Trump.