Ukraine and Russia have not negotiated face to face since July, but U.S.-backed shuttle diplomacy to end the war has intensified in recent weeks.

Top US officials met with a Russian delegation in Miami for the latest round of Urkraine peace talks Saturday, despite the Trump administration failing to bring the warring countries to the table for face-to-face talks.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. negotiators met Russian officials in Florida on Saturday for the latest talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, as President Donald Trump’s administration tries to coax an agreement out of both sides to end the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Washington had proposed the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in half a year, as diplomats converged on Miami for fresh talks on ending the war.

A devastating Russian missile strike on a port in southern Ukraine killed eight people overnight, as bombing intensified from both sides in the deadly war. The ballistic missile in Odesa slammed into a parking lot in the key port, injuring 30, destroying a truck and damaging several cars, according to the Associated Press.

Russia has unleashed an almost continuous drone and missile campaign against a region where ports key to Ukraine's foreign trade and fuel supplies operate.

A U.S. official says a Kremlin envoy will travel to Florida to discuss a U.S.-proposed plan to end the war in Ukraine.

The loan will cover two-thirds of the country’s financial needs for the next two years. It also bolsters Ukraine’s position in ongoing peace talks.