TL;DR
- Donald Trump has sent envoys to Russia and Ukraine to advance a peace plan, with a potential meeting with both leaders on the horizon.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to proceed with the US-Ukraine peace deal framework, aligning with earlier reports of Ukrainian support.
- The White House acknowledges significant progress towards an agreement but notes that several “delicate details” require further discussions before finalisation.
Ukraine war latest: Trump hopes to meet Putin and Zelenskyy ‘soon’ – but only if peace deal struck | World News
It’s been a busy day for news around the war in Ukraine – let’s recap the latest here.
‘Soon’
Donald Trump is sending his envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Vladimir Putin and his army secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with officials in Kyiv in the hopes of finalising a peace plan.
The US president announced the news on his Truth Social platform, repeating some of what we’ve previously heard from him, including that there are only a few remaining points of disagreement.
Trump added that he looked forward to meeting both leaders “soon,” but only when a deal was agreed or in its final stages.
Read his full post here:
US-Russia talks under way
Our US partner network NBC News, citing an American official, reports that US army secretary Dan Driscoll and the US delegation are now talking with the Russians.
Driscoll was present with the US team in Geneva over the weekend, as the original American peace plan was revised.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine ‘ready to move forward with peace deal’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this afternoon his country is ready to push forward with the framework of the US-Ukraine peace deal, according to Reuters, citing the text of a speech the news agency has seen.
This matches up with reports we’ve heard earlier, including a Ukrainian official who said Kyiv supports the “essence” of the peace deal.
‘I think we’re getting close to a Ukraine deal’
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been speaking at the White House this evening.
He said:
“I think we’re getting very close to a deal… we’ll find out… I think we’re making progress.”
Watch him speaking below…
But as our US correspondent David Blevins points out, thinking and knowing are very different things (see previous post).
Starmer’s take on reports of deal
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer was asked about the news that Ukraine has agreed to a deal in the House of Commons, with the developing details still unclear.
The prime minister said he expects it could just be an update on the Geneva talks to revise the US peace plan, rather than a full and complete agreement.
Watch what he told MPs below…
White House says ‘delicate details’ still need sorting
And, this afternoon, the White House said “tremendous progress” has been made towards a peace deal.
However, it added there are still “delicate details” to be sorted out.
“There are a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out and will require further talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
What do we know about the deal?
Our international correspondent Alex Rossi and military analyst Michael Clarke have been explaining what we know about the deal.
Watch their analysis in the video below…