US President Donald Trump mentioned he’s sending particular envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to satisfy President Vladimir Putin over a peace cope with Ukraine that Kyiv says is prepared “to maneuver ahead” on as some last “delicate” factors are ironed out.
After a day of whirlwind diplomacy that noticed conferences between delegations in a number of international locations throughout the Middle East and Europe, momentum appeared to construct towards a deal to finish Europe’s largest and bloodiest battle since World War II.
“The authentic 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with extra enter from either side, and there are just a few remaining factors of disagreement,” Trump wrote on social media.
“In the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan, I’ve directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to satisfy with President Putin in Moscow and, on the similar time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will likely be assembly with the Ukrainians,” he added.
Driscoll met with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi earlier on November 25, in response to a US Army spokesman, in an try and slender variations in a peace proposal the Trump administration has put collectively after talks between US and Ukrainian officers in Geneva.
Ukrainian officers flew to Abu Dhabi for extra talks with Driscoll and different US officers, CBS News and the Financial Times reported.
The talks got here as Russia once more battered Kyiv, killing no less than six folks in air strikes that additionally wounded no less than 13 others.
“America may be very energetic and Europe may be very energetic, as are our different companions. Everyone has the identical agenda, and solely in Moscow does the conflict in opposition to Ukraine stay their first precedence,” Zelenskyy mentioned in a speech to the nation on November 25.
The preliminary US-proposed 28-point peace deal was seen by many as closely favorable to Moscow.
Ukrainian officers flew to Geneva over the weekend to satisfy with US representatives, together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to attempt to hammer out a draft that might require fewer concessions from Ukraine and never end in what some in Kyiv noticed as close to capitulation .
During the Geneva talks, the draft was whittled right down to 19 factors, with Ukrainian officers noting that a number of the most delicate points — together with safety ensures for Kyiv — stay on the desk.
Rustem Umerov, a former protection minister who’s now secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and a member of Kyiv’s negotiating workforce, mentioned in a put up on Facebook that the “most necessary factors within the peace plan have been agreed upon.
“Our delegations reached a typical understanding on the important thing phrases of the settlement negotiated in Geneva. Now we depend on the help of our European companions in additional steps,” Umerov mentioned.
“We look ahead to organizing a go to of Ukraine’s president to the US on the earliest appropriate date in November to finish last steps and make a cope with President Trump.”
Starmer mentioned {that a} assembly of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” — a grouping of greater than 20 nations backing Ukraine — will happen afterward November 25 to debate the proposals, however added that the negotiations are delicate.
“There’s nonetheless an extended approach to go and a tricky highway forward, however we’re extra dedicated than ever to this trigger and to maintaining pushing ahead on this course of,” he mentioned.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned on November 25 that he had “nothing to say” in regards to the reported conferences earlier within the, however that Russia believes the US proposal “may turn out to be an excellent foundation for negotiations.”
There was no speedy remark from the Kremlin on Trump’s newest feedback.
Trump didn’t say when Witkoff would journey to Moscow, or Driscoll to Ukraine.
“I look ahead to hopefully assembly with President Zelenskyy and President Putin quickly, however ONLY when the deal to finish this War is FINAL or, in its last levels,” Trump wrote.
