US Army Secretary Dan Driskoll is in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to meet with Russian officials, CBS News reports, citing two US officials and two diplomatic sources, writes UNN.
Secretary Driscoll met with members of the Russian delegation [Monday night] for several hours in Abu Dhabi. He is scheduled to meet with them again throughout the day [Tuesday] to discuss the peace process and rapidly move the peace negotiations forward
It is unclear who else is part of the US delegation in Abu Dhabi.
The meetings come amid intensified efforts by US President Donald Trump to secure a ceasefire in Russian-Ukrainian war, with US officials holding talks with envoys from both countries.
Over the weekend, Driskoll, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, US President's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and diplomats from Ukraine and European allies attended talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Driskoll's meeting with Russian officials also followed a visit to the Ukrainian capital last week.
US and Ukrainian officials also discussed a potential visit to the US this week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, CBS News reported on Sunday. There are currently no clear plans for the Ukrainian leader's visit.
It remains unclear how close Russia and Ukraine are to an agreement.
Addition
Last week, CBS News obtained a draft of one of the proposals supported by the Trump administration to end the war. The proposed plan contained several provisions that Zelenskyy had rejected in the past, such as a demand for Ukraine to cede all of the Donetsk region, including parts not occupied by Russia, and to abandon the country's aspirations to join NATO.
According to US and Ukrainian officials, there is also an accompanying document related to security guarantees. Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's ambassador to the US, said on Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that the document states that the US intends to offer "security guarantees" under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which obliges NATO members to come to the defense of a NATO state that has been attacked.
On Saturday, a group of NATO members and other U.S. allies released a joint statement calling the proposed peace plan "a basis which will require additional work."
The White House said in a statement Sunday night that U.S. and Ukrainian officials had "drafted an updated and refined peace framework" following the discussions in Geneva. Rubio described one session in Geneva as "very meaningful" but added that "there's still some work left to do, and that's what our teams are going to be doing right now."
Trump pressed Zelenskyy to reach a deal by the American Thanksgiving holiday, November 27, although Rubio on Sunday called that deadline flexible.