【By Observer Net, Yuan Jiaqi】
After the U.S.-Ukrainian Geneva talks reached a "19-point peace plan," the U.S. representative split into two groups to seek opinions from all sides.
According to Reuters report on the 25th, late Tuesday local time, Trump posted on his social platform "Truth Social" that the initial version of the "28-point peace plan" proposed by the U.S. had been optimized and adjusted by combining supplementary opinions from both Ukraine and Russia, and now "only a few points of disagreement remain to be resolved."
Trump revealed in his post that in order to facilitate the final implementation of the peace plan, he had instructed his Middle East affairs special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian President Putin in Moscow; at the same time, he assigned U.S. Army Secretary Dan Criswell to meet with Ukrainian officials, but did not specify the meeting time.
He added, "I look forward to meeting with President Zelensky and President Putin as soon as possible, but only if the agreement to end the war has been finalized or is in the final stage."
The Financial Times earlier cited sources saying that after the Geneva talks, Criswell immediately went to Abu Dhabi, UAE, to meet with the Russian delegation. Other U.S. representatives such as Secretary of State Rubio also proceeded with their respective tasks.
Criswell's spokesperson confirmed that this new member of the U.S. delegation will meet with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday. Peskov, the Russian president's press secretary and Kremlin spokesperson, said on Tuesday when asked about the Abu Dhabi meeting, "We currently have no relevant statement."
At the same time as the news of U.S.-Russia contact was released, according to an ABC News report, a U.S. official confirmed that "Ukraine has agreed to the peace agreement." Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Umerov also confirmed this statement on the same day.
Umerov said on Tuesday that in the ongoing multilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, Ukraine has agreed to the "core terms" of the peace proposal. He expressed optimism about President Zelensky's visit to the U.S. before the end of November and the finalization of the agreement.
According to him, the Abu Dhabi talks involved officials from the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia, but there was no tripartite meeting.
On the evening of November 23, in Geneva, Switzerland, delegations from the U.S., Ukraine, and European countries held talks to discuss the U.S.-proposed "28-point" new plan to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Oriental IC
The U.S. has not yet disclosed the specific content of the so-called "comprehensive peace plan" adjusted by integrating the opinions of Ukraine and Russia. Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that Russia appreciated the U.S. initiative to promote the resolution of the Ukraine conflict, while expecting the U.S. to report the results of its recent consultations with Ukraine and Europe.
Lavrov pointed out that Russia is still waiting for the updated version of the peace proposal from the U.S., and clearly required that this version must include the core principles established during the August Alaska meeting between Russia and the U.S. He said these principles have been reflected in the White House's plan last week, "Russia welcomes it, and President Putin has also said so."
"We are ready to discuss specific wording because there are still a series of issues to clarify," he warned, "but if this proposal does not reflect the spirit and wording of the core consensus we determined at the Anchorage meeting, the situation will change fundamentally."
Reuters reported that the intensive diplomatic efforts of the Trump administration have achieved some progress, but this optimistic mood may not last long: Russia has clearly stated that it will not allow any agreement to deviate from its core goals; Ukraine has a firm stance on key issues such as territory.
A Ukrainian diplomat warned that territorial concessions remain the core issue, which means that although both sides have reached consensus on multiple specific issues, the final agreement still faces great uncertainty. "For us, it is indeed a very tricky issue," the diplomat said.
Several foreign media outlets disclosed on November 20 that President Trump is pushing to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict before the end of the year according to an "aggressive schedule". The U.S.-Russia "28-point peace plan" requires Ukraine to give up the eastern Donbas region, limit the size of the Ukrainian military to 600,000, include "never joining NATO" in the Ukrainian constitution, invite Russia back to G8, etc. The U.S. also pressured Zelensky to sign the agreement before Thanksgiving on November 27, submit the agreement to Moscow by the end of the month, and complete all procedures by early December.
RIA Novosti mentioned that Putin had previously stated that Russia had received the text of the U.S. proposal, but had not discussed it in detail. He said that the document could serve as the basis for the final solution and said that Russia "is satisfied with the frontline situation, both advancing its goals through force and being prepared for negotiations."
However, this version was strongly opposed by Ukraine and European countries, who considered it seriously damaging to Ukraine's interests. Emergency consultations followed: On November 23, delegations from the U.S., Ukraine, and multiple European countries held talks in Geneva. After the meeting, Rubio described it as "the most productive and meaningful meeting so far." He implied that Trump's dissatisfaction with Ukraine had been alleviated, and he was "satisfied with the progress."
This Geneva meeting gave rise to the "19-point new peace plan" reached between the U.S. and Ukraine. According to Kyslytsya, the first deputy minister of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the new draft has "almost no similarities" with the "28-point plan" and "very little original content remains."
Media outlets such as the Financial Times reported that after several hours of arduous negotiations, the U.S. and Ukraine reached agreements on multiple issues, but temporarily put aside the most controversial clauses on territorial issues, NATO, and Russia-U.S. relations, leaving them for Trump and Zelensky to decide.
On Tuesday local time, the "Will Alliance" led by the UK and France, which supports Ukraine, held another online meeting to continue discussing the updated peace plan.
In the meeting that day, EU Commission President von der Leyen and French President Macron once again emphasized their support for Ukraine and called for continued pressure on Russia. Zelensky once again expressed his desire to meet with Trump.
He said that Ukraine is ready to advance a framework for a ceasefire agreement supported by the U.S. and plans to discuss the controversial points in the agreement with Trump, while emphasizing that the related meetings should include participation from European allies.
Zelensky speaking at the "Will Alliance" meeting. Video screenshot
In his speech, Zelensky also urged European leaders to develop a framework for deploying "security forces" to Ukraine and to continue supporting Kyiv as long as Russia does not show willingness to cease fire.
An analysis pointed out that the active participation of European countries in the formulation and discussion of the peace plan aims to emphasize the importance of Europe in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict externally, while also ensuring that Europe is not marginalized in the process of resolving the conflict through actual actions, preventing European interests from becoming victims due to "absence."
Regarding the peace plan proposed by Europe, Russian presidential aide Ushakov directly evaluated it as "not constructive for Russia and not in line with Russia's interests."
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