American and Ukrainian officials are engaged in talks aimed at creating “reliable security guarantees” for Ukraine as part of a US-backed peace plan ahead of a critical visit to Moscow by United States special envoy Steve Witkoff.

At the meeting in Florida on Sunday, a Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, sat down with Witkoff and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the talks are aimed at “creating a pathway” for a sovereign Ukraine.

“We have clear directives and priorities: safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing on the basis of the progress achieved in Geneva,” Umerov wrote on X.

He added negotiators want to “secure real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees”.

The talks come a week after Rubio and Ukrainian negotiators met in Geneva, Switzerland to revise US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which initially was criticised as a Russian wish list. The sit-down sets the stage for Witkoff’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Trump earlier signalled would take place this week.

Putin said the US draft – which has not yet been published – could serve as a “basis for future agreements”, adding his talks with Witkoff should focus on the Russia-controlled Donbas and Crimea regions.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is participating in the Florida talks, may also be present in Moscow.

“This is about ending a war in a way that creates a mechanism for a way forward that will allow them [Ukraine] to be independent and sovereign and never have another war again, and create tremendous prosperity for its people – not just rebuild the country but to enter an era of extraordinary economic progress,” said Rubio.

Talks between US and Ukrainian officials got off to a “good start” and are taking place in a “warm atmosphere conducive to potential progressive outcome”, said Ukraine’s first deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya on X.

‘Important days’

The negotiations come at a sensitive moment for Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded in 2022, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reeling from a corruption scandal that led to the resignation of his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, this week.

It was Yermak who sat down with Rubio in Geneva last week to make amendments to Trump’s original 28-point plan, which initially envisioned Ukraine ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia, limiting the size of its military, and giving up on joining NATO.

The US pared back the original draft to 19 points following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that the United States is “demonstrating a constructive approach”.

“In the coming days, it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end,” he said.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian president said he spoke with NATO chief Mark Rutte and noted, “These are important days and much can change.”

I spoke with Mark Rutte @SecGenNATO, and we will continue our conversation in the coming days. These are important days, and much can change. We are coordinating closely, and in our efforts – and in the efforts of all our partners – it is our joint measures and shared positions…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 30, 2025

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosts Zelenskyy for talks in Paris, the French presidency announced.

As Russia advances on the front line, its forces have targeted Ukraine’s capital and the region for two nights in a row ahead of the talks in the US.

Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight on Saturday killed six people and wounded dozens of others across the country, and cut power to 400,000 households in Kyiv.

A drone attack on the outskirts of Kyiv killed one person and wounded 11, the regional governor said.

Hours earlier, a Ukrainian security source said Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.

Kanya Iwana, an Indonesian multidisciplinary artist making her feature directorial debut, has “Ibu” selected for the JAFF Future Project, about three generations of women wrestling with inherited identity in 2011 Yogyakarta.

The Indonesia-U.S. co-production, directed by Iwana and produced by Zack Rice through production company Feed You Films, is among 10 titles selected for the JAFF Future Project at this year’s JAFF Market in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

“Ibu” follows Maya, a formidable Javanese woman who once dreamed of becoming a writer but subsumed her ambitions under obligation and tradition. Now a widow, she parents through manipulation disguised as protection, resenting her daughters for chasing freedoms she was taught she could never claim.

Her eldest daughter Tash fled to Los Angeles years ago, juggling single motherhood with an uncertain creative career. When Maya’s husband Arief dies, Tash returns home to face not only her domineering mother but her commanding grandmother Dewi and half-sister Inez, a 16-year-old navigating the same emotional minefield Tash fled. Everything ruptures during Arief’s Seventh-Day Prayer Ceremony when Maya publicly unravels, confessing fears she has never voiced.

“I’ve always been so interested in exploring the atlas of family dynamics, whether it is a traditional Indonesian family (often inspired by my own upbringing) or a tenuously liberal American family,” Iwana says. “As I become a parent myself and have to do a lot of inward thinking, I’ve become more inspired to explore narratives that surround the complications of parenting — to break generational curses while maintaining valuable customs.”

The director is inspired not just as a mother, but also as a daughter. “At 16, I moved away from home and has been away ever since,” she says. “This story mirrors so much of my feelings towards that part of my life and my experiences of homecoming: from grief to pride. Writing such strong and complex female characters as the core of ‘Ibu’ has become somewhat of a beautiful, nostalgic, and healing process.”

“‘Ibu’ illustrates the nuances of how loss, traditions, and stigma can lead to generational trauma,” Iwana says. “It explores the consequences violent secrets can have as they are kept from each other in a family unit. ‘Ibu’ zeroes in on our protagonist, Tash, as she works towards escaping that trauma — although it catches up to her.”

Breaking the cycle isn’t always smooth and perfect. “Her desperation to break that cycle actually puts her in the position she wants to avoid, which is a flawed but relatable human experience,” she says. “Breaking the cycle isn’t always smooth and perfect, but the journey to giving yourself grace is a beautiful one. At the end of the day, ‘Ibu’ showcases an array of different textures that spotlight the same thing: the desire to be loved.”

Producer Rice adds, “I launched Feed You Films with my producing partner, Christine Woods, to champion debut features from experienced directors who have the craft and vision — but haven’t yet been given the support or resources to make their first feature. Kanya Iwana is exactly the filmmaker we built this company for.”

Rice was first introduced to Iwana through her work as a photographer and commercial director. “She demonstrated a singular aesthetic and a cinematic eye that touches your soul,” he says. “But it wasn’t until I read her screenplay for ‘Ibu’ that I truly understood the scope of her talent. The honesty and emotional precision in her writing floored me.”

To validate the vision, Feed You Films produced a proof-of-concept short titled “Home.” “Kanya once again exceeded every expectation,” Rice says. “She arrived prepared, intentional, and completely in command of her set — capturing every shot she needed without wasting time or resources on unneeded coverage. She led a mostly female crew with sensitivity, kindness, and total clarity, and everyone on set rallied behind her vision.”

At JAFF Market, the team’s top priority is securing remaining production equity to greenlight the film. “The JAFF Future Project program is uniquely positioned to connect filmmakers with investors who understand Southeast Asian stories and want to champion bold new voices,” the filmmakers say.

They’re also seeking distribution and sales partners who understand both the Indonesian market and international art-house space. “As the only U.S.-based filmmakers selected for the Future Project program this year, joining the Indonesian film community is essential to us,” they say. “This film can only succeed as a true cross-cultural collaboration.”

JAFF Future Project functions as both a development platform and co-production hub, designed to advance independent works toward completion and distribution. The initiative runs Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Jogja Expo Center in Yogyakarta as part of the broader 20th-anniversary celebration of the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival.

A mass protest on Saturday filled with activists from the radical organization Antifa, which President Donald Trump designated as a domestic terrorist organization, delayed the start of a conference for the right-wing populist German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) youth wing called Generation Deutschland.

Between 25,000 and 30,000 protesters turned out against the AfD youth convention in the central German city of Giessen, prompting the largest police contingent (6,000 officers) in the history of the state of Hesse.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel blasted the demonstrators at the city’s convention center. 

“What is being done out there — dear left-wingers, dear extremists, you need to look at yourselves — is something that is deeply undemocratic,” Weidel said. 

STATE DEPARTMENT MAKES FIRST-EVER ANTIFA FOREIGN TERRORIST DESIGNATIONS ACROSS EUROPE

According to The Associated Press, officers used pepper spray after stones were thrown at them at one location, police said. They also used water cannons to clear a blockade by about 2,000 protesters after they ignored calls to leave. They did so again Saturday afternoon as a group tried to break through barriers toward the city’s convention center. Police said up to 6,000 officers were deployed, and 10 to 15 were slightly injured.

The former U.S. ambassador to Germany during the first administration, Richard Grenell, warned on X about the dangers of the anti-democratic left in the Federal Republic of Germany. 

He wrote, “The intolerant and violent Left is gaining ground in Germany. If they follow the U.S. left then they will promote deadly violence while also losing public support — and elections. But they won’t see the errors of their ways because the German left gets lots of support from the media in Germany. It’s publicly funded, too. The conservative media is small and timid — but growing fast.”

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Boris Rhein, the Christian Democratic Union governor of the state of Hesse, criticized the attacks on police and the attempt to torpedo the AfD youth event.

“The use of violence and attempts to prevent assemblies through marches can never be democratic means,” said Rhein.

The AfD scored an impressive second place election result in February, securing 20.8% of the vote. However, the mainstream German parties refused to form a coalition with the AfD because of what they said were its extremist views.

The youth division of the AfD elected 28-year-old Jean-Pascal Hohm as its chairman. According to an article in the German paper Die Welt, a local intelligence report quoted him as expressing anti-immigrant and nationalist views. 

“We will fight resolutely for a genuine shift in migration policy that ensures Germany remains the homeland of Germans,” Hohm said at the start of the conference.

The creation of Generation Deutschland unfolded after Germany’s federal intelligence agency classified the previous AfD youth chapter, Young Alternative, as an “extremist organization” in 2023, resulting in its dissolution.

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AfD portrays itself as an anti-establishment force at a time of low trust in politicians. It first entered the national parliament in 2017 following the arrival of large numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s. Curbing migration remains its signature theme, but it has shown a talent for capitalizing on discontent about other issues too. That was reflected in leaders’ confident tone Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.