US and Russia hold secret peace talks in Abu Dhabi
The talks will lay the groundwork for higher-level conversations in the future, but Russian delegates are attending with the approval of president Vladimir Putin
The United States and Russia are holding secret peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
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US delegates and Russian officials met on Monday in Abu Dhabi to discuss bringing an end to the war in Ukraine, with talks set to continue on Tuesday, according to reports.
The talks will lay the groundwork for higher-level conversations in the future, but Russian delegates are attending with the approval of president Vladimir Putin, an official told CNN.
US army secretary Dan Driscoll is leading the discussions on the American side alongside other diplomats, according to the Financial Times.
The secret discussions are a contrast to the public talks that have taken place in recent days between European officials, the US, and Ukraine.
Karoline Leavitt, press secretary for the White House, spoke about the ongoing discussions on Monday, she said: "We feel as though we're in a very good place.
"The President deserves a great deal of credit for the amount of energy and effort he has put into trying to bring these two sides to an end of this war. He wants to see the killing stop."
The United States and Russia agreed on the terms of a 28-point peace plan last week that would include Ukraine handing over large swathes of land to the Kremlin.
Ukraine, which was not involved in devising the proposal, initially signalled it would reject it, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggesting acceptance would cost the country its “dignity.”
However, over the weekend, Kyiv, alongside its European allies, sent a counterproposal to Washington.
Russia rejected the 28-point European counter-proposal on Monday, saying it was “completely unconstructive and does not work for us”.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have since drafted a new 19-point plan to end the Ukraine war as the battle-scarred nation's President welcomes "important steps".
The Coalition of the Willing will meet virtually today to discuss the situation.
The news about the Abu Dhabi talks comes as at least six people have died in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv overnight – just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested peace was on the horizon following the latest round of talks.
Several more people were wounded in the strikes, which hit residential buildings and energy infrastructure on Tuesday.