New York: As fighting continues in the Ukraine conflict, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his “fine-tuned” 28-point peace plan has only minor differences remaining and that senior US envoys will meet the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine to advance the agreement.
“There are only a few remaining points of disagreement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the plan had been refined based on feedback from both sides.
He said he has directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to travel to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, while US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will meet Ukrainian representatives.
Trump stated he would personally meet Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “only when the deal to end this War is FINAL or in its final stages.”
The US President had earlier set Thanksgiving Day as a deadline for Ukraine to agree to the peace proposal, but later signaled flexibility if negotiations show progress.
Meanwhile, the war has continued to claim lives, with Russia launching new missile and drone strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday. Trump has said that 25,000 soldiers were killed last month alone.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that Russia is waiting to review the revised plan but cautioned it would not accept any proposal that departed from understandings reached at the Trump-Putin Alaska summit in August — details of which have not been disclosed publicly.
US and Russian officials met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as part of the ongoing diplomatic efforts. Driscoll, who recently participated in Geneva talks with a Ukrainian delegation led by Andriy Yermak, also discussed developments with Russian counterparts before continuing to the Zelensky meeting, according to his spokesperson Jeff Tolbert.
Critics in Washington and among European allies have said the initial US proposal, partly drafted by Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, heavily favored Russia.
Media reports indicate some key revisions:
- A previously proposed limit of 600,000 Ukrainian troops will be removed.
- NATO’s future role in Ukraine will be deferred for later discussions.
- Russia would keep territories it has occupied — a point worrying European partners.
Zelensky has reportedly told allies that security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, and decisions about European security must involve Europe — otherwise, he warned, “there is always a high risk it simply won’t work.”
