Donald Trump says his proposal to end the war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” after talks in Geneva and he will now send his special envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the plan with Vladimir Putin.
Trump has said he will only meet with Putin and Zelensky himself when the terms of a peace deal are “final”.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday evening, the US president said he was sending envoys to Moscow and Kyiv in a bid to iron out a “few remaining points of disagreement” between the warring countries.
Mr Trump said negotiators are getting “very close” to a deal, with reports suggesting Ukraine is ready to “move forward” with the peace framework proposed by the US.
Kyiv said that it supports the “essence” of a peace agreement after intense negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva.
But a Ukrainian official said the most sensitive issues in the agreement would still need to be discussed by Trump and president Volodymyr Zelensky, after a US official claimed that Kyiv had accepted the terms of an agreement.
Watch: Zelensky says Russia’s top priority is war after Trump hints Ukraine negotiators ‘very close’ to peace deal
Trump backs away from Ukraine peace plan deadline
US president Donald Trump has backed away from a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree to a US-proposed peace plan.
Trump, speaking to reporters on board Air Force One as he flew to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, said US negotiators were making progress in discussions with Russia and Ukraine, and Moscow had agreed to some concessions. He did not detail them.
But he and his aides have moved away from a firm deadline and now say they would like an agreement as soon as possible.
“The deadline for me is when it’s over,” Trump said on the presidential aircraft.
A US-based framework for ending the war, first reported last week, prompted fresh concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal heavily tilted toward Moscow.
Several rounds of talks have followed, and Ukraine now says it has an “understanding” with the US on a new version.
Ukraine destroys Russian laser aircraft in successful strikes on bases
Ukraine says it has carried out successful strikes on multiple Russian airbases, hitting an experimental A-60 airborne laser platform and a Russian Il-76 transport aircraft.
The aircraft were identified in an update from Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces.
Earlier, Ukraine’s armed forces General Staff reported successful strikes on several strategic Russian targets, including the Taganrog Aircraft Repair Plant and the Atlant Aero drone manufacturing facility in Rostov oblast.
The General Staff had said that the A-60 at the Taganrog aircraft repair plant in southwestern Russia had likely been hit, before Brovdi shared a satellite image confirming the damage.
The A-60 is a rare Soviet-era experimental aircraft based on the Il-76 and is equipped with an airborne laser system. Estimated to be worth between $150m and $480m, it was developed to test missile defence and anti-satellite technologies.
Trump says Ukraine peace plan proposal ‘fine-tuned’
Donald Trump has said a proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” and announced he’s sending his special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Vladimir Putin.
Witkoff reportedly advised Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov that Putin should call Trump to congratulate him for the Gaza peace deal, say Russia had supported it and that he respects the president as a man of peace. The remarks from the transcript were published by Bloomberg yesterday.
The White House did not dispute the veracity of the transcript, and Trump described Witkoff’s reported approach to the Russians in the call as “standard” negotiating procedure.
“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to his home in Florida last night. “That’s what a dealmaker does.”
Watch: Zelensky says Ukraine peace deal has fewer than 28 points after Geneva talks
Comment: As Trump bends to Putin’s will again on Ukraine, it is time for Europe to go it alone
Recap: Russia dashes Trump’s hope of quick peace deal in Ukraine after rejecting European proposal
Ukraine must cede land for peace deal, Witkoff reportedly told Kremlin
Ukraine must cede land including the Donetsk region in order to achieve a peace deal, US special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly told officials in Moscow last month.
Bloomberg reported that the conversation took place on 14 October.
“Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere,” Mr Witkoff reportedly told senior Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov during the five-minute conversation, according to Bloomberg’s transcript.
“But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully because I think we’re going to get to a deal here.”
Starmer says changes to draft peace plan are ‘constructive’ and ‘could be accepted’
Political correspondent Millie Cooke reports…
Sir Keir Starmer says the changes that have been proposed to the draft peace plan are “constructive” and “could be accepted”, arguing the talks are moving “in a positive direction”.
Speaking at the top of a Coalition of the Willing call, the prime minister said: “I welcome some of the developments that have now come forward.
“It was a chance to ensure that the draft plan fully reflects Ukraine’s interests and lays the ground for a lasting peace.”
He added: “They’ve proposed some constructive changes. And of course some of our National Security Advisers were there in Geneva to support the talks.
“So I do think we’re moving in a positive direction – and indications today that in large part the majority of the text looks as though, Volodymyr is indicating, could be accepted.”
