Ukrainian officials say Kyiv has accepted the “core terms” of a U.S.-brokered peace proposal intended to end nearly four years of war with Russia, with negotiators calling only a few minor issues outstanding. Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s national security adviser, said negotiators reached a common understanding on the central points of the plan, though some specifics still need to be worked out.
Umerov indicated he was optimistic President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could travel to the United States before the end of November to finalize the agreement, and that European partners would back Ukraine as talks continue. A Trump administration official said there was no firm date for a U.S. visit as of late Tuesday morning, but if it takes place it could occur at Mar-a-Lago.
The reports of progress emerged while U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was in Abu Dhabi meeting with Russian representatives, sources told CBS News. President Trump posted on Truth Social that only a few points remained in dispute, and said he had directed envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow while Driscoll would meet with Ukrainian officials. Trump said he and senior aides — including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — would be briefed on developments and that he hoped to meet both Zelenskyy and Putin once the deal was near final.
Asked aboard Air Force One about the status of negotiations, Trump said “we’re making progress” and described remaining disagreements as standard issues negotiators were addressing. A Kremlin adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told Russian media a preliminary agreement had been reached for Witkoff to travel to Moscow next week, accompanied by other U.S. officials.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration had made “tremendous progress” by bringing Ukraine and Russia to the table but acknowledged a few delicate details remain that will require further trilateral talks.
There was no immediate Russian public response to the specific terms reportedly discussed in Abu Dhabi, and U.S. and Ukrainian officials did not disclose the proposal’s full text. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow appreciated the U.S. initiative and was awaiting an updated version of the plan from American counterparts. Lavrov emphasized Russia prefers formal agreements before public disclosures and said any updated proposal should reflect key understandings he said were reached between Trump and Putin during their August meeting in Anchorage, Alaska; he warned the outcome would differ if those understandings were not preserved.
Officials said discussions in Abu Dhabi followed a series of meetings over the weekend in Geneva, where U.S., Ukrainian and European diplomats and envoys worked on a revised version of a previously circulated 28-point framework. Driscoll reportedly worked from that revised draft in Abu Dhabi after attending Geneva talks alongside Rubio, Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ukrainian and European diplomats. Driscoll had also visited Kyiv the previous week.
CBS News previously obtained a draft of the Trump administration–backed 28-point proposal that included provisions Ukraine has long resisted, including requiring Kyiv to cede control of the entire Donetsk region — including areas not currently occupied by Russian forces — and to abandon its bid for NATO membership. U.S. and Ukrainian officials say Ukraine would receive a separate document with security assurances modeled on collective-defense guarantees similar to NATO Article 5, pledging strong defense commitments without full NATO accession.
A group of NATO members and other U.S. allies called the plan “a basis which will require additional work,” and the White House said it and Ukrainian counterparts had drafted an updated, refined peace framework after Geneva. Rubio described the Geneva sessions as “very meaningful” but acknowledged that additional negotiations remain necessary.
U.S. officials said their diplomacy in Geneva and Abu Dhabi started from the difficult premise that Putin may assert control over Donetsk, whether by negotiation or continued military advance. They noted recent Russian gains on the eastern front, including around the city of Pokrovsk, as indicators of a challenging trajectory for Kyiv’s defenses, though they stopped short of declaring Ukraine to be losing the war overall.
Trump had urged a settlement by Thanksgiving, but aides have said the timeline is flexible. Ukrainian officials and diplomats continue to work through outstanding details as they await formal drafts and further meetings among Kyiv, Moscow and Washington.
Kathryn Watson and Tucker Reals contributed to this report.