US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll held secret talks with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi on Monday, November 24.
This is reported by ABC News, citing sources.
The meeting was a follow-up to talks between the United States and Ukraine that took place this weekend in Geneva, aimed at restarting the peace process. Driscoll planned to hold another meeting with the Russians the following day. The composition of the Russian delegation was not disclosed.
According to ABC News, Driscollʼs involvement in diplomatic contacts has become a key part of a new initiative by the US President Donald Trump administration, which he agreed with Vice President J.D. Vance two weeks ago.
Although the participation of an official of this level in diplomatic negotiations is atypical, Washington believes that a military representative could be acceptable to both sides.
Driscoll was accompanied on the trip by several high-ranking American generals, but they did not participate in either the Geneva talks or the meetings in the UAE.
Reuters reported that Driscollʼs talks would continue through Tuesday. The official added that he would also meet with Ukrainian officials. The Financial Times reported that Driscoll also plans to meet with the head of Ukraineʼs intelligence agency, Kirill Budanov.
Peace plan for Ukraine
The 28-point US peace plan was first reported by NBC News, and all of its points were published by Axios. One of the main provisions concerned territories and stipulated that Crimea, as well as the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, would be recognized as de facto Russian. The US President Donald Trump has set a deadline for approving the plan of November 27.
After the plan was leaked to the media, Ukraine, the United States, and European partners held a series of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 23. After all the meetings, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported “tremendous progress”. Despite Trump’s words about a deadline, Rubio allowed for a more flexible schedule that would allow for more negotiations.
Financial Times sources wrote that the American plan was reduced from 28 points to 19. It is not known exactly which provisions were removed. The Telegraph previously published an alternative plan from the EU, which contained 24 points.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the document retained the points on the need to release civilians and prisoners of war on an "all for all" basis and return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. He also confirmed that the plan had been shortened and Ukraineʼs position had been taken into account.
Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia, who was part of the delegation, said that the US agreed not to limit the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to 600 000, and the clause on amnesty for potential war criminals was reworked to take into account "complaints of those who suffered in the war".
The most controversial issues were put "out of brackets" (in particular, the issues of territories and relations between the US, NATO, and Russia). They are to be discussed by Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.
- According to The Guardianʼs sources, on November 22, Trump appointed Daniel Driscoll as the new special representative to promote a "peace plan" to end the war in Ukraine.
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