Zelenskiy says Ukraine ready to advance peace plan, will discuss disputed points with Trump

Highlights:

• Ukraine backs 'essence' of peace deal with Russia but sensitive issues linger, Kyiv official says
• Trump says Ukraine deal getting very close: "The deadline for me is when it's over."
• US, Russian officials meet in Abu Dhabi over latest Ukraine peace plan
• Barrage of Russian missiles and drones hits Ukrainian capital Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he was ready to advance a US-backed framework for ending the war with Russia and discuss disputed points with US President Donald Trump in talks he said should include European allies.

US and Ukrainian officials have been trying to narrow their gaps over Trump's plan to end Europe's deadliest and most devastating conflict since World War Two, with Ukraine wary of being strong-armed into accepting a deal largely on Russian terms, including territorial concessions.

In a speech to what is known as the coalition of the willing allies, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Zelenskiy urged European leaders to hash out a framework for deploying a "reassurance force" to Ukraine and to keep backing it for as long as Russia showed no inclination to end its nearly four-year-old war.

"We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe," Zelenskiy said, according to his speech text. "Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won't work."

"That framework is on the table, and we're ready to move forward together with the USA, with the personal engagement of President Trump," he said.

Trump has at times tried to accelerate negotiations by announcing deadlines, as he did last week when he said that he hoped for agreement by Thursday. But he softened that on Tuesday evening.

"The deadline for me is when it's over," he told reporters. "And I think everybody's tired of fighting."

He also encouraged reporters not to take the 28-point peace plan he unveiled last week as a firm blueprint.

"That was just a map," he said. "It was a concept." Negotiators were working through each of the points, whittling them down, he said.

US to meet with Putin, Ukraine separately

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said on social media that negotiations had left "only a few remaining points of disagreement." He directed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and his Army secretary, Dan Driscoll, to meet at the same time with Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian officials said Driscoll was expected in Kyiv this week.

"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," Trump wrote.

A Ukrainian diplomat cautioned that territorial concessions remained a major sticking point, meaning a final deal was far from certain despite accords on various specific points. "These are really tough questions for us," the diplomat said.

Underlining the high stakes for Ukraine, Kyiv was hit by a barrage of missiles and hundreds of drones overnight in a Russian attack that killed seven people and again disrupted power and heating systems. Residents were sheltering underground wearing winter jackets, some in tents.

Zelenskiy could visit the US in the next few days to finalise a deal with Trump, Ukraine's national security chief Rustem Umerov said earlier on Tuesday, though there was no immediate confirmation of such a trip from the US side.

US and Ukrainian negotiators held talks on the latest US-backed peace plan in Geneva on Sunday. Driscoll then met on Monday and Tuesday with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, a spokesperson for Driscoll said.

A Ukrainian official said Ukraine "supports the framework's essence, and some of the most sensitive issues remain as points for the discussion between presidents."

Oil prices extended their declines after reports of Ukraine potentially agreeing to a war-ending deal.

Zelenskiy: Will discuss sensitive issues with Trump

US policy towards the war has zigzagged in recent months.

A hastily arranged summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska in August raised worries in Kyiv and European capitals that the Trump administration might accept many Russian demands, though the meeting ultimately resulted in more US pressure on Russia.

The 28-point plan that emerged last week caught many in the US government, Kyiv and Europe alike off guard and prompted fresh concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal heavily tilted toward Russia.

The plan would require Ukraine to yield territory beyond the almost 20% that Russia has captured since its February 2022 full-scale invasion, as well as accept curbs on its military and bar it from ever joining NATO, conditions Ukraine has long rejected as tantamount to surrender.

The sudden push has cranked up the pressure on Ukraine and Zelenskiy, who is now at his most vulnerable since the start of the war after a corruption scandal saw two of his ministers dismissed, and as Russia makes battlefield gains.

Zelenskiy could struggle to get Ukrainians to swallow a deal viewed as selling out their interests. Russia's unrelenting attacks on Ukraine have left many sceptical about how peace can be achieved soon.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said an amended peace plan must reflect the "spirit and letter" of an understanding reached between Putin and Trump at their Alaska summit.

"If the spirit and letter of Anchorage is erased in terms of the key understandings we have established then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation (for Russia)," Lavrov warned.