Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that talks with the US about a peace plan were continuing following a report that Kyiv agreed to the terms of a potential deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“Communication with the American side continues,” Zelensky said in a post on X following a phone call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday. Zelensky added that Germany has helped Ukraine a lot since the beginning of the war.
Zelensky's post on X – stating that talks with US are still underway comes after a report by ABC News — citing a US official – mentioned that Ukraine agreed to a potential peace deal with some minor details to be sorted out.
‘Further talks between Ukraine, Russia, US…’
Hours after Zelensky's post, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt – in a social media post on X – stated that further talks between Ukraine, Russia, and US are required, pertaining to “few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out.”
On Monday, POTUS Donald Trump mentioned in a social media post on that “big progress” was being made on a deal for Ukraine.
Both Ukraine and US Presidents' comments about the deal comes as US Army Secretary Driscoll is in Abu Dhabi reportedly meeting with the Russian side.
US and Russia hold talks in Abu Dhabi
Driscoll – who is reportedly an ally of US vice-president JD Vance – commenced talks with the Russians on Monday night, according to a US official and two people familiar with the meeting.
Ukraine has agreed to cap its army only to 800,000 personnel — reported Financial Times, citing a Ukrainian official. The initial Trump plan had proposed a 600,000 limit.
Trump and Zelensky will later decide the most sensitive issues – territorial matters and US security guarantees, as per FT.
Oleksandr Bevz, one of the Ukrainian delegates at the talks between the US and Ukraine in Geneva, said that the numbers of points in the proposed settlement was reduced, but he denied reports that the 28-point US peace plan now consisted of 19 points.
"(The document) is going to continue to change. We can confirm that it was reduced to take out points not relating to Ukraine, to exclude duplicates and for editing purposes," Bevz told the AP.
What did Russia say?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow is in touch with US officials about peace efforts. According to Financial Times, Russia signalled it could reject the modified US peace plan if it fails to satisfy Moscow’s long-standing demands.
