US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has taken on a central diplomatic role in the Trump administration’s latest push to end the war in Ukraine, holding unannounced talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi.
A second round of meetings was expected on Tuesday, according to a US official. Driscoll was also due to meet Ukrainian officials while in the UAE, although the composition of the Russian delegation remained unclear, reported Reuters.
The quiet diplomatic activity unfolded while Ukrainian and US officials attempted to close gaps over Washington’s proposed peace plan.
The Kremlin said it had no comment on the Abu Dhabi meeting for now. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the American project as the only substantive proposal on the table and said it could serve as a very good basis for negotiations.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that an amended peace plan for Ukraine must reflect the "spirit and letter" of an understanding reached between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump at their Alaska summit.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia had welcomed an initial version of a US peace plan for Ukraine and was waiting for an amended interim version of the plan after Washington had coordinated with Ukraine and Europe.
He said it would be a completely different situation for Russia if the amended version did not reflect what Putin and Trump had discussed when they met in Alaska in August.
Kyiv remained wary of being pressured into accepting terms that would favour Moscow, even as discussions continued in Geneva and now in Abu Dhabi.
Ukraine faced fresh onslaught overnight as Kyiv was struck by missiles and hundreds of drones in an attack that killed at least six people.
Residents sheltered underground in winter jackets, some in tents. Odesa also suffered destruction from a separate strike.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched 22 missiles and more than 460 drones, with four of the drones crossing into Moldovan and Romanian airspace.
Zelensky underscored that the scale of overnight attacks demonstrated the need for consistent international support.
Ukraine replied with large-scale, retaliatory drone strikes against southwestern Russia and Crimea on Tuesday with the governor of Russia's Krasnodar Krai calling the assault a “sustained and massive” attack.
He said there could be no pauses in assistance and urged partners to advance diplomacy together so that pressure on Russia produces results.
Amid the escalating violence, Kyiv’s national security chief Rustem Umerov said Zelensky could travel to the United States in the coming days to advance negotiations with President Donald Trump.
Umerov wrote in a social media post that the two sides had reached a common understanding on the core terms discussed in Geneva and that work was underway to organise Zelensky’s visit at the earliest suitable date in November.
The Trump administration’s stance on the war has shifted repeatedly in recent months. A hastily arranged August summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska alarmed Kyiv and European partners who feared Washington might concede to major Russian demands.
Instead, the meeting led to more US pressure on Moscow.
Concerns were revived last week when a new 28 point US peace plan unexpectedly emerged, catching officials in Washington, Kyiv and Europe off guard.
The proposal called for Ukraine to give up more territory, accept limits on its military and pledge never to join Nato. Kyiv has long rejected these conditions as equivalent to capitulation.
The pressure has intensified on Zelensky, who is facing his most fragile political moment since 2022 following a corruption scandal that led to the dismissal of two ministers, even as Russia gains ground on the battlefield.
In his overnight address, Zelensky said the latest draft of the plan incorporated correct elements and that the number of points had been reduced since the Geneva talks.
He added that the most sensitive issues would need to be addressed directly with Trump. The process of producing a final document, he warned, would be difficult.
European powers continued to shape their own response. A coalition of the willing that supports Ukraine, including Britain and France, planned a virtual meeting on Tuesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron told RTL radio that the US initiative moved toward peace but warned against any solution that amounted to Ukrainian capitulation.
He stressed that only Ukraine could decide what territorial concessions to make. Macron argued that Ukraine should not face limits on its military and said that Europe alone would decide the fate of frozen Russian assets held across the continent.
He added that what was acceptable to Moscow did not translate to what Europe or Ukraine must accept.
In Moscow, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov dismissed Europe’s reported counter proposal, saying it appeared unconstructive and did not work for Russia.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said any final peace plan must ensure Russia could never invade Ukraine again.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, she said this would require concessions from Russia, including honouring international agreements and downsizing its military.
She argued that there could be no accountability free scenario for invading another country and said Russia should not be allowed back into the G8.
She welcomed Trump’s stated aim of achieving peace but stressed the need to question what would genuinely secure that peace.
Meanwhile, tensions along Nato's eastern flank rose again after Romania deployed fighter jets to track drones that breached its territory near the Ukrainian border early Tuesday.
One drone was reported to be continuing farther into Romanian airspace. Several Nato countries have experienced incursions by suspected Russian drones in recent months.
The UK warned Russia on November 19, after a spy ship targeted RAF pilots with lasers, with defence secretary John Healy declaring that “we see you, we know what you’re doing, and if the Yantar moves south this week, we are ready.”