US President Donald Trump said he is sending special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin over a peace deal with Ukraine that Kyiv says is ready "to move forward" on as some final "sensitive" points are ironed out.
After a day of whirlwind diplomacy that saw meetings between delegations in several countries across the Middle East and Europe, momentum appeared to build toward a deal to end Europe's largest and bloodiest conflict since World War II.
"The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement," Trump wrote on social media.
"In the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow and, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians," he added.
Driscoll met with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi earlier on November 25, according to a US Army spokesman, in an attempt to narrow differences in a peace proposal the Trump administration has put together after talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva.
Ukrainian officials flew to Abu Dhabi for more talks with Driscoll and other US officials, CBS News and the Financial Times reported.
The talks came as Russia again battered Kyiv, killing at least seven people in air strikes that also wounded at least 13 others.
"America is very active and Europe is very active, as are our other partners. Everyone has the same agenda, and only in Moscow does the war against Ukraine remain their first priority," Zelenskyy said in a speech to the nation on November 25.
The initial US-proposed 28-point peace deal was seen by many as heavily favorable to Moscow.
Ukrainian officials flew to Geneva over the weekend to meet with US representatives, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to try and hammer out a draft that would require fewer concessions from Ukraine and not result in what some in Kyiv saw as near capitulation .
During the Geneva talks, the draft was whittled down to 19 points, with Ukrainian officials noting that some of the most sensitive issues -- including security guarantees for Kyiv -- remain on the table.
Rustem Umerov, a former defense minister who is now secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council and a member of Kyiv's negotiating team, said in a post on Facebook that the "most important points in the peace plan have been agreed upon.
"Our delegations reached a common understanding on the key terms of the agreement negotiated in Geneva. Now we count on the support of our European partners in further steps," Umerov said.
"We look forward to organizing a visit of Ukraine’s president to the US at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump."
Starmer said that a meeting of the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" -- a grouping of more than 20 nations backing Ukraine -- will take place later on November 25 to discuss the proposals, but added that the negotiations are delicate.
"There's still a long way to go and a tough road ahead, but we're more committed than ever to this cause and to keeping pushing forward on this process," he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 25 that he had "nothing to say" about the reported meetings earlier in the, but that Russia believes the US proposal "could become a very good basis for negotiations."
There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin on Trump's latest comments.
Trump did not say when Witkoff would travel to Moscow, or Driscoll to Ukraine.
"I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages," Trump wrote.
