US and Russian officials hold Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi, as Kyiv comes under a deadly assault
By Natasha Bertrand, Lex Harvey, CNN
(CNN) — US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll held meetings with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday about a proposed plan for ending the war in Ukraine, with talks to continue Tuesday, a US official told CNN.
The meetings, which follow days of intense diplomatic efforts as the US makes a fresh push for a resolution to the war, came as Russia and Ukraine conducted deadly strikes on each other overnight Tuesday, with at least six killed in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, and three dead in Russia’s Rostov region.
The talks with Russia, held after US-Ukraine talks in Geneva over the weekend, are meant to lay the groundwork for higher-level engagements in the future, the official said, adding that the Russian delegation is attending with President Vladimir Putin’s approval.
Driscoll is the most senior member of the American delegation in Abu Dhabi excluding any diplomats, the official said. The makeup of Russia’s delegation was not immediately clear. The discussions will continue Tuesday, the official said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that President Donald Trump is “hopeful and optimistic that a deal can be struck” to end Russia’s war with Ukraine, following the negotiations in Geneva over a 28-point peace proposal which the US authored with Russian and Ukrainian input.
The first draft of the proposal contained many concessions to Russia, including provisions for Kyiv to cede territory, give up its NATO ambitions, and limit the size of its army.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that the new proposal now contains “fewer points than 28, and many proper considerations have been taken into account in this framework.”
The Ukrainian delegation returned home from Geneva and “reported on the new draft of steps,” Zelensky said. “This is indeed the right approach. I will discuss sensitive issues with President Trump.”
The Kremlin has not said much about the US plan, but Putin has said the US proposal “in principle, could form the basis for a final peace settlement.” He added that the version of the plan seen by Russia is “in line with the discussions” at the US-Russia summit in Alaska earlier this year, but it’s not clear whether that version held up following days of meetings between the US and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its assault on Ukraine, launching 22 missiles and 460 drones into Ukraine overnight, killing six people and wounding 13, according to Zelensky.
The strikes caused “extensive damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure” in Kyiv and targeted “the energy sector and everything that keeps normal life going,” Zelensky said.
Two people were killed, including an 86-year-old woman, after a fire broke out in a residential building in the city’s Dniprovskyi district, according to the National Police of Ukraine.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said four people were also killed in the city’s Svyatoshynskyi district.
In Russia, three people were killed and 8 wounded in a major Ukrainian drone attack, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. Russian forces had intercepted and destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 116 that were launched over the Black Sea, it said.
The commander of Ukraine’s military drone unit, Robert Brovdi, hailed Tuesday as Kyiv’s “most productive” night in November, saying the drone attack did “deep damage” to Russia.
CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova and Victoria Butenko contributed reporting.
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