This Tuesday was marked by the news that Ukraine had accepted the US peace plan for the war against Russia, following some revisions resulting from the meeting in Geneva between Kiev and Washington DC.
According to a source from the American government, only “small details” remain to be adjusted, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already said that there is still “a lot of work” ahead.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt speaks of “huge progress” but says more meetings are needed between the US, Ukraine and Russia.
“Over the past week, the United States has made enormous progress toward a peace agreement, bringing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table. There are some delicate but not insurmountable details that need to be resolved and will require further negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the United States,” wrote Karoline Leavitt in X.
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,…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec)
According to the Financial Times, Ukraine has agreed to limit its armed forces to 800,000 men in peacetime.
A Ukrainian army of this size would continue to be the second largest European force, after Russia, and would approach its current strength, with around 900 thousand soldiers.
In the initial plan presented by Washington last week, Ukrainian forces would be limited to 600,000 soldiers
The original 28-point document was condensed to 19 points following consultations between the US and Ukraine in Geneva, although its full content has not been released.
The news of the Ukrainian ‘yes’ to the Trump administration’s plan coincides with the presence of US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll in Abu Dhabi, where he already held meetings with Russian officials on Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this Tuesday that he had “nothing to say” about these talks.
Peskov added that Moscow has not yet received any updated plans on Ukraine.
“At the moment, the only substantive proposal is the American project, President Donald Trump’s project. We believe that this could constitute an excellent basis for negotiations. We continue to maintain that position.”
Regarding Europe’s role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine, Peskov stated that it is impossible to discuss the security system without the participation of Europeans, therefore, at a later stage, this participation will be necessary.
In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that an amended peace plan for Ukraine must reflect the “spirit and letter” of an understanding reached between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at their summit in Alaska.
During a press conference in Moscow, Lavrov stated that Russia had favorably welcomed the initial version of the US peace plan for Ukraine and was waiting for an amended interim version, after Washington DC coordinated with Ukraine and Europe.
The ball is now in Russia’s court, but while senior representatives of the two belligerent countries discuss peace, the war continues on the ground.
Russia continued its attack on Ukraine by launching 22 missiles and 460 drones overnight, killing seven people and injuring 13, according to Zelensky.
A team of firefighters battles a fire after a drone hit a multi-story residential building during Russia’s nighttime drone attack in Kiev, Ukraine, this Tuesday (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
The attacks caused “extensive damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure” in Kiev and targeted “the energy sector and everything that maintains normal life”, the Ukrainian leader said.
Two people died, including an 86-year-old woman, after a fire in a residential building in the Dniprovskyi district of the Ukrainian capital, according to the Ukrainian National Police.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kiev city military administration, said four people also died in the Svyatoshynskyi district.
In Russia, three people were killed and eight were injured in a major Ukrainian drone attack, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Russian forces intercepted and destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 116 that were launched over the Black Sea, according to the ministry.
The commander of Ukraine’s military drone unit, Robert Brovdi, hailed Tuesday as Kiev’s “most productive” night of November, saying the drone strike had caused “profound damage” to Russia.
