Summary
Here’s a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
Donald Trump said that he has directed US special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Army secretary Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians. In his post on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, he added that an original 28-point peace plan, which was drafted by the US, has been fine-tuned with additional input from both sides and that there are only a few remaining.
In a statement on X on Tuesday, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the “Coalition of the Willing” will continue exerting pressure on Russia since “pressure remains the only language Russia responds to.” She added on X: “We need strong transatlantic cooperation. Because it delivers. Take the significant impact of our coordinated and successive waves of sanctions against the Russian economy. They are shrinking the resources Russia has to wage its war of aggression.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv was ready to move forward with a US-backed peace deal, and that he was prepared to discuss its sensitive points with US president Donald Trump in talks he said should include European allies. In a speech to the ‘coalition of the willing’, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Zelenskyy urged European leaders to hash out a framework for deploying a “reassurance force” to Ukraine and to continue supporting Kyiv for as long as Moscow shows no willingness to end its war.
Axios reported that Zelenskyy had expressed a desire to meet Trump “as soon as possible” – possibly over Thanksgiving – to complete a joint US-Ukrainian agreement on the terms for ending the war. It cited the infomation as coming from Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
The ‘coalition of the willing’ call on Tuesday, co-hosted by UK prime minister Keir Starmer, was attended by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, in a rare example of American involvement in the coalition’s discussions. French president Emmanuel Macron and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte were also among the participants in the virtual meeting.
Macron told Tuesday’s ‘coalition of the willing’ call that efforts to draw the Russia-Ukraine conflict to an end were now at a “crucial juncture”. During the same call, Starmer said talks on a potential ceasefire in Ukraine were “moving in a positive direction” but urged leaders of the coalition to “firm up” their commitments to a potential peacekeeping operation in Ukraine.
Talks between US army secretary Dan Driscoll and Russia delegates on a US plan to end the conflict with Ukraine were “going well,” his spokesperson said on Tuesday. Driscoll reportedly met Russian and Ukrainian officials for talks in Abu Dhabi today.
Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, killing seven and injuring 21 in Kyiv. A total of 22 missiles, including four hypersonic Kinzhals, and 464 drones, were fired by Russia in attacks that principally targeted Kyiv and the surrounding area, according to Zelenskyy.
Donald Trump said that he has directed US special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Army secretary Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians.
In his post on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, he added that an original 28-point peace plan, which was drafted by the US, has been fine-tuned with additional input from both sides and that there are only a few remaining.
He added:
“I will be briefed on all progress made, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter, and let’s all hope that PEACE can be accomplished AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!”
