Extract from ABC News
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under pressure both domestically and from the United States. (Reuters: Alina Smutko)
In short:
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country was ready to move forward with a US-backed peace proposal.
The Ukrainian president said he wanted to discuss elements of it with Donald Trump and European leaders.
What's next?
Further strikes have pummelled the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Ukraine wants to move forward with the US-backed peace deal, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, but he wants to discuss elements of it with Donald Trump and European leaders.
In a speech to the so-called coalition of the willing, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Mr Zelenskyy urged European leaders to hash out a framework for deploying a "reassurance force" and to continue supporting Kyiv for as long as Moscow showed no willingness to end its war.
US and Ukrainian officials have been trying to narrow the gaps between them on new peace agreement plans, with Kyiv wary of being strong-armed into accepting a deal largely on the Kremlin's terms.
US President Donald Trump said he thought a deal on the war in Ukraine was getting very close but gave no other details, telling a White House event: "We’re going to get there."
A Ukrainian official earlier signaled support for the framework of a peace agreement with Russia, with some sensitive issues still needing to be fixed.
Russia strikes Kyiv amid diplomatic push
A spokesperson for US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he and his team met with Russian officials across two days as part of a diplomatic push to get an agreement over the line.
"Late Monday and throughout Tuesday, Secretary Driscoll and team have been in discussions with the Russian delegation to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine," said US Army Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Tolbert, a spokesperson for Mr Driscoll.
Russia is continuing near-nightly drone and missle assaults on Ukraine. (Reuters: Valentyn Ogirenko)
The exact nature of the discussions was not immediately clear, and it was not known who was in the Russian delegation.
A US official said that Mr Driscoll, who has emerged as a point man for US diplomatic efforts on Ukraine, was also expected to meet Ukrainian officials while in Abu Dhabi.
Underlining the high stakes for Ukraine, its capital Kyiv was hit by a barrage of missiles and hundreds of drones overnight in a Russian strike that killed at least six people and disrupted power and heating systems.
Residents were sheltering underground wearing winter jackets, some in tents.
Ukrainians are facing a fourth winter under war time conditions as Russia targets the country's heating and energy infrastructure. (Reuters: Valentyn Ogirenko)
Russia's unrelenting attacks on Ukraine have left many sceptical about how peace can be achieved soon.
"There was a very loud explosion, our windows were falling apart, we got dressed and ran out," said Nadiia Horodko, a 39-year-old accountant, after a residential building was struck in Kyiv overnight.
"There was horror, everything was already burning here, and a woman was screaming from the eighth floor, 'Save the child, the child is on fire."
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a meeting of the coalition of the willing leaders that London was "ready to move" with the European Union on providing financial support to Ukraine based on the value of "immobilised" assets.
"This is the best way to show (Russian President Vladimir) Putin he should negotiate rather than trying to out-wait us, and it's the best way for us to be ready to support Ukraine in war or in peace," Mr Starmer told the leaders of France, Germany and other European nations.
Ukraine's air force issued a countrywide missile warning in the early hours of Tuesday morning, local time. (AFP: Sergei Supinsky)
"I know that EU leaders are looking at this in the next few weeks, where progress is being made."
However French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron was not convinced that Russia wanted peace.
"There is clearly no Russian willingness to agree a ceasefire today," he said, adding that Moscow has also not shown any "willingness to discuss" the amended US plan to end the war in Ukraine following discussions between representatives from the United States, Ukraine and Europe in Geneva last weekend.
Mr Macron also called for "strong Ukrainian army" without "limitation" to deter another Russian attack.
Zelenskyy seeks Trump meeting over peace plan
US policy towards the war has zigzagged in recent months.
A hastily arranged summit between Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August raised worries in Kyiv and European capitals that the Trump administration might accept many Russian demands, though ultimately resulted in more US pressure on Russia.
The latest American peace proposal — a 28-point plan that emerged last week — caught many in the US government, Kyiv and Europe off-guard.
It also prompted fresh concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal heavily tilted toward Moscow, although subsequent negotiations have seen the agreement "updated and refined".
The plan would require Kyiv to cede more territory, accept curbs on its military and bar it from ever joining NATO — conditions Kyiv has long rejected as tantamount to surrender.
The sudden push raises the pressure on Ukraine and Mr Zelenskyy, who is now at his most vulnerable since the start of the war after a corruption scandal saw two of his ministers dismissed, and as Russia makes battlefield gains.
Mr Zelenskyy could struggle to get Ukrainians to swallow a deal viewed as selling out their interests.
He said on Monday the latest peace plan incorporated "correct" points after talks over the weekend in Geneva.
Mr Zelenskyy, who could visit the US in the next few days, said the process of producing a final document could be difficult.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said an amended peace plan must reflect the "spirit and letter" of an understanding reached between Mr Putin and Mr Trump at their Alaska summit.
Reuters
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