Trump to send top envoy to Russia in push to finalise Ukraine plan

Ukraine says it supports the “essence” of a United States program to extremity its warfare with Russia, arsenic US President Donald Trump said “progress” is being made connected securing a woody and that helium would dispatch his peculiar envoy to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Tuesday saw a flurry of diplomatic enactment aft US and Ukrainian negotiators met 2 days earlier successful Geneva to sermon Trump’s archetypal bid plan, which had been seen successful Ukraine arsenic a Russian privation database calling connected Kyiv to cede territory to Moscow, bounds its subject and springiness up connected joining NATO.

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The program has since been modified, with the emerging connection reportedly accomodating concerns of Ukraine and its European allies.

Speaking astatine a video league of the alleged conjugation of the consenting – a radical of 30 countries supporting Ukraine – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was acceptable to “move forward” with the as-yet-unpublished “framework”, though helium inactive needed to code “sensitive points”.

Earlier, a Ukrainian authoritative had told the Reuters quality bureau that Kyiv supported “the framework’s essence”. Building connected that consciousness of momentum, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s main of staff, who led negotiations successful Geneva, told US quality website Axios that the information guarantees Ukraine was seeking looked “very solid”.

Speaking astatine the White House, Trump conceded that resolving the Ukraine warfare was “not easy”, but added, “We’re getting adjacent to a deal.”

“I thought that would beryllium an easier [deal], but I deliberation we’re making progress,” helium said.

Taking to his Truth Social level aboriginal on, helium said that helium would nonstop envoy Steve Witkoff to conscionable Russian President Vladimir Putin successful Moscow to robust retired “a few” remaining differences implicit the deal.

He said helium hoped to conscionable “soon” with Putin and Zelenskyy, “but ONLY erstwhile the woody to extremity this War is FINAL or, successful its last stages”.

Russia, which had hammered Ukraine’s superior Kyiv with a deadly barrage of missiles the erstwhile night, seemed unconvinced of progress.

Russia has not yet seen the modified plan, which remains unpublished, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that it should bespeak the “spirit and letter” of an knowing reached betwixt Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin astatine their Alaska acme earlier this year.

“If the tone and missive of Anchorage is erased successful presumption of the cardinal understandings we person established, then, of course, it volition beryllium a fundamentally antithetic concern [for Russia],” Lavrov warned.

Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said determination was a batch of “uncertainty” astatine the Kremlin, though determination had allegedly been “behind-the-scenes interactions” betwixt Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and US counterpart Steve Witkoff, “who reportedly worked connected the archetypal stage” of Trump’s plan.

The Russian side, she said, was not blessed astir revisions to the bid plan.

“Unlike the archetypal American program presented by Donald Trump, which consisted of 28 points, the alleged European mentation doesn’t see withdrawing the Ukrainian equipped forces from Donbas, it allows Kyiv to articulation NATO, and it doesn’t bounds the size of its equipped forces,” Shapovalova said.

Still, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll had earlier emerged upbeat from gathering with Russian officials successful Abu Dhabi, superior of the United Arab Emirates, with his spokesperson saying: “The talks are going good and we stay optimistic.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said connected X that determination were “a fewer delicate, but not insurmountable, details that indispensable beryllium sorted retired and volition necessitate further talks betwixt Ukraine, Russia and the United States”.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said it was “unclear erstwhile those talks volition happen, who volition beryllium involved, and what they volition look like”. But, she added, it was wide they would not beryllium imminent, fixed the upcoming American Thanksgiving vacation connected November 27.

Macron urges ‘pressure’ connected Putin

As the US strained to span the spread betwixt Ukraine and Russia, leaders successful the conjugation of the willing, who person pledged to underwrite and warrant immoderate ceasefire, moved accelerated connected information guarantees and a reconstruction program for Ukraine.

In the video meeting, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio successful attendance, the leaders decided to acceptable up a task unit betwixt the US and conjugation countries to “solidify” information guarantees.

Trump has not committed to providing back-up for a post-ceasefire “reassurance force” for Ukraine. The program for the unit involves European allies grooming Ukrainian troops and providing oversea and aerial support, but would beryllium reliant connected US subject musculus to work.

Speaking aft the video call, Macron said discussions successful Geneva had shown that determination should beryllium nary limitations to the Ukrainian army, contrary to what had been outlined successful the archetypal draught of the US plan.

He besides said a determination connected utilizing frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction, astatine the bosom of a governmental and ineligible impasse successful a Europe seeking backing for Ukraine, would beryllium “finalised successful the coming days” with the European Commission.

Western countries froze astir $300bn successful Russian assets successful 2022, mostly successful Belgium, but determination has been nary statement connected however to proceed. Some enactment seizing the assets, portion others, similar Belgium, stay cautious owing to ineligible concerns.

According to reports, Trump’s program would divided the assets betwixt reconstruction and US-Russia investments.

Macron deed retired astatine Russia, saying “continued pressure” should beryllium enactment connected Moscow to negotiate. “On the ground, the world is rather the other of a willingness for peace,” helium said, alluding to Russia’s overnight attacks connected Ukraine’s superior Kyiv, which near 7 dormant and disrupted powerfulness and heating systems.

In his regular evening address, Zelenskyy said: “What is particularly cynical is that Russia carried retired specified strikes portion talks are nether mode connected however to extremity the war”.