US Army Secretary met with Russians in UAE for the second time amid a revised peace plan, which Russian officials called a non-starter - Bloomberg

US Army Minister Dan Driscoll, after several hours of meeting with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday evening, also held talks with them on Tuesday, according to a US official. This happened as the initial 28-point peace plan between Ukraine and Russia was reduced to 19 points, and Russian officials "called the revised plan a non-starter," Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.

Details

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to Russian media, stated that he could not say anything about reports of the meeting.

The talks came after Trump hinted at "great progress" in reaching a deal in Russia's war against Ukraine in a social media post. "His comment signaled that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukrainian officials, who met in Geneva on Sunday, had made progress in defusing fierce resistance from Kyiv and its European allies to the 28-point peace proposal the White House team unveiled last week," the publication writes.

Washington is more relaxed about Trump's November 27 deadline for securing Ukraine's support for his proposal after some progress was made in Geneva, but the US still wants to reach a deal as soon as possible, people familiar with the Abu Dhabi meeting said.

Days after White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev agreed on a plan, Ukrainian and European officials rushed to develop a counter-proposal that would offer Russia much less favorable terms. The result is a carefully crafted 19-point plan, according to people familiar with the matter.

Russian officials, the publication writes, "called the revised plan a non-starter."

"The only substantive document today is the American draft, Trump's draft," Peskov was quoted by Russian media on Tuesday. "We believe it can serve as a good basis for negotiations." He added that the text was likely revised during US talks with Ukraine, but Russia has not yet received any official information on the matter.

Addition

On November 20, Axios published a 28-point peace plan by US President Donald Trump between Ukraine and Russia, which includes territorial concessions, security guarantees, and economic components.

It was reported that the initial 28-point peace plan between Ukraine and Russia, following negotiations that began in Geneva between Ukraine and the US on November 23, was reduced to 19 points.

According to Reuters, negotiations continued on November 24. Later that day, President Zelenskyy announced that the Ukrainian delegation was returning home, and he was awaiting a full report on the progress of the negotiations in Geneva and the key accents of the partners.

Negotiations were to continue at the working level in the coming days, the OP told Bloomberg.

Reportedly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may visit the US this week to discuss the most sensitive aspects of the plan with US President Donald Trump.

The President's Office stated that any discussions of territorial issues would likely take place at a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump.

Earlier, it was reported that Trump was pressuring Zelenskyy to reach a deal by the American Thanksgiving Day, November 27, although US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called this deadline flexible.