Ukraine has agreed to a U.S.-backed peace deal to end the war with Russia, officials reported Tuesday, with only a few details needing to be finalized.
Ukrainian National Security Adviser Rustem Umerov said Ukrainian and U.S. representatives have reached a “common understanding” of the terms of the deal.
He added that he hopes President Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the plan further.
Mr. Trump has said he would like Mr. Zelenskyy to formally accept the deal by Thanksgiving, though the Ukrainian president has said that deadline is too restrictive.
The announcement follows a string of high-stakes meetings among Ukrainian, U.S. and European diplomats in Geneva over the weekend. The White House confirmed Sunday that those talks resulted in an updated draft of the peace plan, though details of the new proposal have not been made public.
The U.S. also stressed that some “minor details” need to be ironed out before the deal is finalized.
The possible agreement follows U.S. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll’s summit with Russian diplomats in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, this week. He reportedly spent hours in and out of meetings with Russian officials, though Moscow was reluctant to disclose details of the talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did not confirm that Moscow supports the latest draft of the U.S. peace plan.
Debate swirls over how involved Russia was in crafting the first draft of the plan. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly discussed the plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami in October.
Some U.S. senators said over the weekend that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them that the deal was a Russian-authored proposal. The secretary has since denied that the plan was written by Russia.
A draft of the original 28-point peace plan was leaked to media outlets last week, beginning a flurry of debate over the proposed terms.
Ukraine’s allies and Russia critics blasted the plan’s land concessions, which would cede control of the Donetsk region to Russia and see the U.S. formally recognize Russia’s ownership of Crimea. The original proposal also reportedly included major reductions in Ukraine’s military and required the country give up trying to join NATO.
Ukraine previously rejected calls to give up land, its fight to join NATO or severely reduce its military, arguing the moves would amount to capitulation.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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