President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced two simultaneous meetings of US representatives with Russia and Ukraine to negotiate the final contentious points of Washington's plan to end the war in Ukraine.
"[T]here are only a few remaining points of disagreement," the Republican wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"In the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin in Moscow and, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians," Trump posted, without specifying a time for the discussions.
It was not clear from Trump's post whom Driscoll would meet.
Trump himself will be kept informed of the progress, as will US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump further wrote.
The US president wrote that he looks forward to hopefully meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin soon, "but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages."
Whether Trump intends to meet with them individually or as a trio was not clear from his statements.
Ukraine had earlier on Tuesday agreed to the main points of the peace plan proposed by the US, according to both governments.
Following the disclosure of a preliminary US plan, which many criticized as a Russian "wish list," there have been renegotiations and adjustments in recent days. The Europeans have also been involved.
"Our delegations reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva," said Rustem Umerov, a former defence minister who is now secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council and a member of his country's negotiating team.
"We now count on the support of our European partners in our further steps," he wrote on Facebook. "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."
High-ranking members of the US government are reportedly currently in Abu Dhabi to discuss the emerging plan with a Russian delegation.
Last week, the US presented a 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine, which began with a full-scale invasion by Russian troops on February 24, 2022.
The plan initially appeared to contain most of the Kremlin's conditions for ending the war but has since been intensively renegotiated by European and Ukrainian diplomats.
Putin described the original version of the 28-point plan as "the basis for a final peace settlement" and has warned against any major softening of the deal in favour of Kiev.
Media reports are currently focusing on a peace plan comprising around 20 points. The reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as the news portal Politico, did not reveal the specific details of this plan.
According to the Times, some of the most controversial elements from a European and Ukrainian perspective, such as an upper limit on Ukraine's troop strength and the territorial question of the future border between Russia and Ukraine, have been put aside for the time being.
These aspects are to be the subject of later negotiations, the US newspaper said. The same applies to the ban on the stationing of troops from NATO countries in Ukraine, which was proposed in a previous 28-point US peace plan that became known through media reports.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke positively of the progress made towards peace, as he led a call on Tuesday with leaders of the so-called coalition of the willing following the talks in Geneva.
"Progress was made and I welcome some of the developments that have now come forward," Starmer said in the virtual call. "It was a chance to ensure that the draft plan fully reflects Ukraine's interests and lays the ground for a lasting peace."
The leaders of the coalition "agreed with Secretary Rubio to accelerate joint work with the United States to take forward the planning on security guarantees," according to a joint statement released after their meeting.
"They tasked their military authorities to complete joint planning work to that effect."
Starmer's office looked to play down reports that Kiev had accepted the US-backed plan, with the prime minister's spokesman saying there were "still several points to work through," according to Britain's Press Association (PA).
According to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, Kiev's allies want to support the US peace plan with military security guarantees for Ukraine. In the event of a ceasefire, a "security force" would have to be deployed in Ukraine, Macron said in an interview with broadcaster RTL.
European input will be needed "at some stage" during talks about the security architecture for the continent, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday in remarks reported by Russian state news agency TASS.
Discussions on a security system in Europe following the end of the war in Ukraine would be "practically impossible without the participation of Europeans," he is reported to have said.
With respect to negotiations on the US plan for ending the war, Peskov repeated Moscow's previous positions. Russia aimed to achieve its goals by diplomatic means, he said.
Peskov added that the original 28-point plan could have been a basis for talks, but that Moscow understood that this had now been altered.
