Where things stand
• The White House says additional discussions are required among Ukraine, Russia and the United States as the countries work to hammer out a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
• Ukraine agreed to the US proposal with only “minor details” outstanding, according to a US official, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more work needs to be done.
• Zelensky may visit US President Donald Trump in the next few days “to complete final steps and make a deal,” according to Ukraine’s national security chief.
• US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is holding meetings with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, according to a US official. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated Russia could reject an amended US peace plan if its terms are “fundamentally different” to the understanding reached during the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska a few months ago.
How Trump’s "drone guy" became central to the US effort to end the Ukraine war
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was at the White House earlier this month preparing for a trip to Kyiv to discuss drone technology when he received an unexpected assignment from President Donald Trump: push Ukraine to come back to the table for peace talks with the Russia – and do it fast.
The 38-year-old Army veteran and close friend of Vice President JD Vance, his classmate at Yale Law School, had no prior diplomatic experience.
But an “Army-to-Army” discussion seemed promising, said one person familiar with the discussions: The Ukrainians know and trust US Army officials, who have trained and equipped their forces for more than a decade.
Trump also likes Driscoll and refers to him as the “drone guy,” people familiar with their dynamic said, a nod to Driscoll’s extensive work on developing new drone technology for the Army.
Driscoll was excited to take on the challenge, one of the sources said. And after a weeklong diplomatic blitz across three countries, he appears poised to return home with a partial victory.
Read more about that victory and Driscoll’s involvement here.
Zelensky floats idea of European presence at potential Trump meeting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has floated the idea that Kyiv’s European allies could join a potential meeting with US President Donald Trump intended to finalise a proposal to end the war in Ukraine.
As we reported earlier, the Ukrainian leader could visit the United States in the next few days to finalize a peace proposal with Trump, according to Ukraine’s national security chief Rustem Umerov.
Talks between top US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend yielded a “good result,” Zelensky said.
“Ukraine has the framework developed by our teams in Geneva. That framework is on the table, and we’re ready to move forward together – with the United States of America, with personal engagement of President Trump, and with Europe,” he added.
White House’s optimism is intended to put maximum pressure on Kyiv and Moscow, sources say
The White House’s optimistic rhetoric on Ukraine talks this week is by design, sources familiar said, arguing that top officials’ public comments around a fluid 19-point plan are intended to put maximum pressure on Kyiv and Moscow to commit to the negotiations.
The Trump administration is eager to use the momentum of talks with Ukrainian and Russian officials to try and force both Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin to the table on an initial ceasefire deal, those sources said. And the strategy around the renewed air of confidence is to publicly raise the stakes, one of the sources said, to make it harder for either side to walk away from the talks.
“I think we’re getting very close to a deal,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday, echoing positive projections from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
However, administration officials recognize that much still needs to be worked out. While the sources said the current state of talks — specifically with the Ukrainians in Geneva on Sunday — culminated in an agreement on the broad strokes of the pared-back, 19-point plan, major sticking points remain. The sources would not clarify the specific areas of disagreement that still need to be negotiated in the plan, which has evolved from an initial 28-point version.
The key question remains whether Russia is willing to make substantial concessions beyond those in that initial proposal, which was widely seen as favorable to Moscow by US lawmakers, Ukraine and European allies.
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who is in Abu Dhabi meeting with Russian officials, has been tasked with hammering out those specifics to keep up the momentum and bring both sides closer to the finish line.
No final US-Ukraine deal yet and key differences remain, source tells CNN
Progress is being made between the US and Ukraine on the wording of a new draft proposal to end the war, but substantive differences remain and no final text has been agreed, according to a Ukrainian source with direct knowledge of the talks.
A “consensus” had been reached on most points, the source said, but there are at least three crucial areas where differences remain. On the sensitive issue of whether Ukraine will surrender territory that has been annexed but not yet conquered by Russia, the source said that a decision had not yet been reached. “It would be very wrong to say we have now the version that is accepted by Ukraine,” the source said.
On a proposal for Ukraine to limit the size of its army to 600,000 – the figure envisaged in a 28-point plan leaked last week – the source told CNN that a new number had been floated, but Kyiv wanted further changes before it would be prepared to agree.
And on the issue of Ukraine renouncing its ambition to become a member of NATO, the source told CNN that this demand is unacceptable. Such a concession would set a “bad precedent” that would effectively give Russia a veto on NATO “which it is not even a member of.”
Zelensky "indicating" that he could accept "majority" of US proposal, British PM says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “indicating” that he could accept the “majority” of the US-backed proposal to end the war in Ukraine, according to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Ahead of a virtual “Coalition of the Willing” meeting on Tuesday, Starmer said that “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.”
The original proposal was seen as favorable toward Russian interests but Ukraine and Europe have pushed for amendments in recent days.
Zelensky may visit US President Donald Trump in the next few days “to complete final steps and make a deal,” Ukraine’s national security chief said earlier.
The British leader added that more work is needed to ensure that “robust security guarantees” are provided to Ukraine, which Starmer framed as “an important element of the draft US plan.”
“Ukraine is holding the line fearlessly. And it’s the line of their sovereignty and their defense. But it’s also our line as well because this is about European freedom, our values, and our security,” Starmer said.
Ukraine peace talks “at crucial juncture,” France’s Macron says, urging importance of security guarantees
French President Emmanuel Macron said peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine are at a “crucial juncture” and urged the importance of “robust security guarantees” for Kyiv.
“Negotiations are getting a new impetus and we should seize this momentum, not because there is reason for alarm — Ukraine is solid, Russia is slow, and Europe is steadfast — but because there is finally a chance to make real progress toward a good peace,” Macron said today at the start of a virtual “coalition of the willing” meeting, attended by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders, including those from the UK, Germany, Japan and Australia.
Macron went on to say that “the absolute condition for a good peace is a set of very robust security guarantees and not paper guarantees.”
The initial 28-point plan proposed by the US faced criticism for appearing to favor Russia. But on Sunday, the White House said Ukraine’s key concerns, including security guarantees, were “thoroughly addressed” after “revision and clarifications” were made to the proposal with input from US, Ukrainian and European officials in Geneva over the weekend.
Speaking to French radio station RTL today, Macron said European-led security guarantees for Ukraine would involve Turkish troops in addition to British and French soldiers.
White House says further talks required between US, Russia and Ukraine
The White House said Tuesday further talks are required between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, as it works to reach an agreement to end the war.
“Over the past week, the United States has made tremendous progress towards a peace deal by bringing both Ukraine and Russia to the table. 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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X.
Leavitt’s comments echo Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, who said in Geneva, “The items that remain open are not insurmountable. We just need more time than what we have today.”
Map shows extent of Russian control in key Ukrainian regions
As we await updates from talks held to end the war in Ukraine, let’s take a look at Russian control of some of the country’s key regions.
The map below shows the extent of the occupation so far, from Kherson to Luhansk.
Both countries traded deadly attacks overnight, killing and wounding civilians and damaging infrastructure.
Putin arrives in Kyrgyzstan ahead of summit for Russia-led military alliance
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived today in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek ahead of a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of some post-Soviet states.
Putin was greeted by Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov before he attended a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.
The CSTO summit is being held on Thursday and will be attended by Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, along with Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
Armenia, however, will be absent again, according to local media reports. The Caucasus nation has frozen its participation in the CSTO after accusing the alliance of failing to protect it from Azerbaijani aggression.
Watch: Kyiv residents gloomy over peace proposal amid deadly Russian strikes
We reported earlier on a night of deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv — and locals have been left with little hope that advancing peace talks will deliver material results any time soon.
CNN spoke to residents outside a damaged residential building that suffered an attack from Russian drones, which killed two people.
For 50-year-old Olha Poluhina, agreeing to the peace plan as it stands would be “even worse” than the current situation.
“It may seem like salvation, but it is not salvation,” she said today.
Lidmula Gavrilyvna, a 79-year-old pensioner, broke down in tears as she longed for the return of normal life.
Remember: A US official said Ukraine has agreed to a deal to end the war with Russia with only “minor details” outstanding. The US and Russia are currently holding meetings in Abu Dhabi about the US peace proposal.
US official says Ukraine has agreed to a peace proposal as Zelensky says "much work" lies ahead
Ukraine has agreed to a deal to end the war with Russia with only “minor details” outstanding, a US official said, even as President Volodymyr Zelensky said more work needed to be done.
Speaking as the US army secretary was in Abu Dhabi holding meetings with Russian officials about the Trump administration’s proposal, the official said: “The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal. There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”
The US statement appeared to go further than the public position of Ukrainian officials, who also have a delegation present in Abu Dhabi and who have been in contact with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
In a post on X, Ukraine’s national security secretary, Rustem Umerov, wrote that the delegations had “reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva.”
“We now count on the support of our European partners in our further steps,” Umerov wrote. He added that Ukraine looked forward to organizing a visit of Zelensky to the US to “complete final steps and make a deal with President (Donald) Trump.”
In a post on X earlier this morning, Zelensky said: “Following the meetings in Geneva, we see many prospects that can make the path to peace real. There are solid results, and much work still lies ahead.”
Lt. Col. Jeff Tolbert, a spokesperson for Driscoll, said, meanwhile, that the talks between the US and Russian delegations in Abu Dhabi “are going well and we remain optimistic.”
What Ukraine and Europe have said are red lines in peace negotiations
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is holding meetings with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi about a proposed plan for ending the war in Ukraine.
The original US-drafted proposal to end the war included many ideas that have previously been put forward and rejected in earlier peace negotiations.
It put pressure on Kyiv to cede territory, limit the size of its military and promise not to join NATO in exchange for an end to the war, all long-standing Kremlin demands as Putin presses forward with his maximalist war aims.
The US proposal called for Ukraine to surrender key territories in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine that Russia has illegally annexed but not captured – a longstanding red line for Kyiv. That area includes the “fortress belt” of heavily defended Ukrainian towns and cities, which are seen as essential for the country’s security.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously rejected Russia’s calls for Ukraine to surrender the eastern Donbas region in exchange for some Russian-held parts of the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The European Union also laid out three of its red lines on Sunday.
First, Ukraine’s “borders cannot be changed by force,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement on Sunday, as top US and European officials held talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Second, as a sovereign nation, there cannot be limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attack and thereby also undermining European security,” von der Leyen added.
“Third, the centrality of the European Union in securing peace for Ukraine must be fully reflected. Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. They have chosen a European destiny,” the EU chief concluded, adding that starts with Ukraine’s reconstruction and integration into Europe’s single market and defense industrial base.
CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova, Catherine Nicholls and Kara Fox contributed to this post.
Death toll in Ukraine climbs to seven after Russia's latest strikes
Rescue workers have recovered the body of a man from under the rubble in northeastern Kyiv, Ukraine’s emergency services said Tuesday, bringing the death toll from the Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital to seven.
At least 13 others have been injured in the attacks, including a child.
Russia launched 22 missiles and 260 drones into Ukraine overnight, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Catch-up on the latest as US and Russian officials hold talks in Abu Dhabi
Let’s catch you up on the main developments we’ve been reporting today, as peace talks involving the US, Ukraine and European allies aimed at ending the war in Ukraine continue.
• US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is holding talks in Abu Dhabi about a proposed plan for ending the war in Ukraine, a US official told CNN.
• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he had “nothing to report” about the talks, adding, “we are monitoring media reports and analyzing them carefully.”
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the amended peace plan must reflect the “spirit and letter” of the talks between Putin and Trump during their August summit in Alaska.
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are due to hold a call of the “Coalition of the Willing” later today, which will be an opportunity for Ukraine’s allies to discuss the amended plan and how they will proceed.
• Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine traded deadly attacks overnight, killing and wounding civilians and damaging infrastructure.
Zelensky says Ukraine sees “many prospects” for peace after talks with US
Speaking after a call today with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country sees “many prospects” for peace, following talks over the weekend with US officials in Geneva, Switzerland.
After being blindsided by the original 28-point peace plan that emerged last week, Europe on Monday put forward a counterproposal that struck out some of the provisions seen to favor Russia. This was obtained by Reuters and confirmed to CNN to be accurate by European sources.
Starmer is due to hold a call of the “Coalition of the Willing,” later today, as Ukraine’s allies take stock of the recent diplomacy and discuss the amended peace plan.
“We have coordinated our positions and the priority issues for discussion, as well as some of our next steps and contacts,” Zelensky said of the meeting.
Trump wants a win but Russia must be held accountable for invasion, CNN's Thomas says
US President Donald Trump’s push for an end to the war in Ukraine is motivated by his desire for a win, CNN’s European Affairs Commentator Dominic Thomas says.
But Thomas said a sustained peace would only be possible were Russian President Vladimir Putin held accountable for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“That peace treaty will not be worth the paper it’s signed on unless there is recognition that the invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory is a violation of international law,” he added.
While Thomas said Trump’s “lack of consistency” had “undermined the process,” of implementing peace, he added the president’s presence is “absolutely incontrovertible.”
Moldova detects six drones in airspace during Russian strikes on Ukraine
Moldova said six drones had crossed into its airspace Tuesday morning, during Russia’s long-range strikes on Ukraine.
Moldova’s government said the first drone to violate its airspace was detected close to Vulcănești, near the borders with Ukraine and Romania, and that five more drones were detected across the country.
One of the drones fell on the roof of a house in northern Moldova, the government said.
In neighboring Romania, NATO also scrambled fighter jets after at least one Russian drone entered its airspace overnight into Tuesday.
Lavrov says revised peace plan must reflect “spirit and letter” of Trump-Putin summit in Alaska
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that an amended peace plan for Ukraine must reflect the “spirit and letter” of the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump during their summit in Alaska in August.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia had welcomed the original version of the peace plan, which surfaced last week and was seen as heavily favoring Moscow. Following US-Ukraine talks in Switzerland, the original 28-point plan has since been pared back to a 19-point plan, which has reportedly removed some of the provisions deemed unacceptable by Kyiv.
Lavrov accused Europe and Ukraine of trying to “twist” the original plan, which had been backed by US President Donald Trump, and said Russia was waiting to receive the amended version from the US.
Kremlin says initial 28-point peace plan could be a "good basis" for negotiations
The Kremlin said Tuesday that the initial 28-point peace plan, which emerged last week and was widely criticized as being favorable to Moscow, could be a “good basis” for talks about ending the war in Ukraine.
The 28-point plan, first reported last week by Axios, demanded that Ukraine cede territory to Russia, limit the size of its military, and abandon its ambition to join NATO. But following talks between the US and Ukraine in Switzerland, that plan has since been pared back to a 19-point peace deal more favorable to Kyiv, and some of the most difficult issues have been stripped out, a senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times Monday.
The Kremlin has since said it favors the initial plan, which US President Donald Trump initially gave Ukraine less than a week to accept. That deadline has since appeared to be shelved.
“Trump’s plan is currently the only substantive one, and it could serve as a good basis for negotiations,” the Kremlin said.
It claimed that the draft of this plan was “based on the understandings reached” between the US and Russia during a summit in Alaska in August.
But the origins of the 28-point peace plan have been disputed. A US Senator described the plan as a Russian “wish list,” and analysts pointed out that the text contained several potential Russianisms, raising questions about which side wrote the draft. However, the State Department has insisted that the plan was authored by the US, “with input from both the Russians and the Ukrainians.”
The Kremlin said Tuesday that there was an “information frenzy” around the peace plan, “with many contradictory data and statements.”
"Slim chance" of peace deal, says Ukrainian security expert
There is a “slim chance” that a peace deal will be achieved during this phase of negotiations, according to an executive director at a Ukrainian security think tank.
Speaking to CNN’s Rosemary Church on Newsroom Tuesday, Alexander Khara, from the Centre for Defence Strategies, cast doubt over a Russia-Ukraine truce, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambition for widespread power as an obstacle.
Khara said Putin was “not willing to compromise” because Moscow wants “not just to control Ukraine but convert their losses into some geo-political gains in Europe and elsewhere.” He added that Russia had been using diplomacy as “a tool of war.”
Meanwhile, Khara said he believes Trump was “not interested” in Ukraine or the European continent, “So that’s why the war will go on,” he added.
“There is a slim chance of any peace deal coming out of this diplomatic activity,” he said.
