The talks took place just one day before the second round of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkov said he had a “productive and constructive meeting” with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida as President Donald Trump’s administration presses for an end to Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

“We are encouraged by this meeting, as Russia is working to ensure peace in Ukraine,” Vitkov wrote in a post on X after Saturday’s talks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House adviser Josh Grunbaum also participated in the talks.

The meeting comes a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators plan to hold a second round of talks with U.S. mediators in Abu Dhabi to discuss a U.S.-backed plan to end the war in Russia.

First US-brokered meeting held in UAE capital last weekmarking the first direct public talks between Moscow and Kiev since the early weeks of the war.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this week that he believed “we’re getting close” to a deal to end the war.

Trump announced Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to his request He said the Russian president was “very good” after not attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for a week amid extreme cold weather.

The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Putin had received the request, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling Sky News that the Russian leader “of course” agreed to the proposal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Wrote X said a ceasefire over attacks on energy infrastructure had been discussed in last week’s talks and he expected those agreements would be implemented. “Steps to de-escalate the situation can help make real progress towards ending the war,” he added.

On Friday, Ukraine’s leader said in a night speech that neither Moscow nor Kiev had carried out strikes on energy targets since Thursday evening.

Several sticking points in the U.S.-backed plan to end the war remain, including a Russian demand that Ukrainian troops withdraw from about a fifth of the Donetsk region and the possible deployment of international peacekeepers to Ukraine after the war.