Ukraine peace talks: Trump says special envoy Witkoff to meet President Putin

Washington DC [US], November 26 (ANI): US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (US local time) that his special envoy Steve Witkoff would be visiting Moscow next week to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner might going with Witkoff too. The development comes on the heels of progress on a draft proposal to end the conflict, CNN reported.
As per CNN, Trump also mentioned that Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will meet with the Ukrainians. It further reported that the US President hopes to meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - however not until a deal is more finalized.
"I'd like to see it end, and we won't know for a little while, but well, we're making progress," Trump said aboard Air Force One.
The US President had previously set a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to accept a proposed peace plan. When asked about the new deadline, Trump said, "You know what the deadline for me is? When it's over."
He suggested that while there remain some sticking points around territory, the work is on the way.
He said, "...trying to clean up the border, you can't go through the middle of the house. You can't go through the middle of a highway. So, they're trying to work something, it's a complicated process."
Trump added that Russia has agreed to some steps. "Well, they're making concessions. Their big concessions is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land again."
On Kushner accompanying Witkoff, Trump said, "I'm not sure about Jared going, but he's involved in the process, smart guy. And they're going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe next week in Moscow," Trump said.
Citing Ukrainian sources, CNN mentioned that while progress is being made on a draft proposal to end the war, at least three crucial sticking points remain.
It further reported that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated earlier that Moscow could reject an amended US peace plan if its terms are "fundamentally different" to the understanding reached during the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska a few months ago.
Earlier it was reported that Ukraine agreed to the framework of a proposed deal to end the war with Russia, a senior US official said on Tuesday, even as President Volodymyr Zelensky maintained that several issues remain unresolved, CNN reported.
The official, speaking as US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll held talks with Russian representatives in Abu Dhabi, said, "The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal. There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal."
Furthermore, Ukraine's national security secretary, Rustem Umerov, wrote on X that both sides had "reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva." He added that Kyiv now expected support from European partners in the next steps and looked forward to arranging a visit by Zelensky to the United States to "complete final steps" and reach a deal with President Donald Trump.
The original US-drafted peace plan includes several ideas previously rejected in past rounds of negotiations. It urges Ukraine to accept limits on the size of its armed forces, abandon its bid to join NATO and cede some territory--all long-standing demands made by Russia as President Vladimir Putin seeks to secure maximum concessions.
The proposal also calls on Kyiv to surrender key parts of the Donbas region that Russia claims to have annexed but does not fully control. The region includes a fortified belt of cities and towns central to Ukraine's defence strategy.
Zelensky has repeatedly rejected Russia's demands that Ukraine give up the eastern Donbas in return for control over certain Russian-held areas in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine's borders "cannot be changed by force" and warned against any peace plan that would weaken Ukraine's armed forces. She said no agreement should impose limitations that leave Ukraine exposed to future attacks. (ANI)