A Ukrainian delegation is reportedly taking part in ongoing, low-profile negotiations in Abu Dhabi, where US and Russian officials have been holding high-level discussions, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
The delegation is allegedly led by Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR). Ukrainian officials are reportedly engaging with both the American and Russian teams, though it remains unclear whether the talks are trilateral or if Washington is acting as a go-between, relaying proposals between Ukraine and Russia.
Axios reports that the meetings were originally planned as high-level talks between “Ukrainian and Russian military intelligence chiefs” on a “different topic,” likely unrelated to peace efforts. However, the unexpected arrival of Dan Driscoll, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, shifted the agenda.
Kyiv Post has reached out to HUR for confirmation of the report, as well as to multiple Ukrainian officials, but had not received a comment at press time.
In Abu Dhabi, Driscoll is presenting a revised version of Trump’s peace plan, updated after US, Ukrainian, and European consultations in Geneva.
Media reports say the new draft now contains 19 points instead of the original 28, dropping earlier proposals to limit the size of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and to grant amnesty for war crimes.
Territorial issues are expected to be discussed directly by Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the coming days.
While details of the latest proposal have not been fully disclosed, a US military official described the mood as optimistic and characterized the talks as progressing rapidly.
Driscoll’s office said US-Russia talks are “going well” and that Washington “remains optimistic.”
Ukraine Agrees on Core Terms of Trump-Brokered Peace
Ukraine has reportedly agreed to the core terms of a peace proposal brokered by the Trump administration, with only minor details left to finalize.
According to CBS News, a US official said that Kyiv had effectively accepted the deal, describing the remaining issues as technical in nature.
Ukraine’s National Security Adviser Rustem Umerov confirmed that a “common understanding” had been reached on the proposal following consultations with US counterparts, while stressing that final steps still lie ahead.
In a statement on X, he said Ukraine now expects the backing of its European partners as the process advances and looks forward to organizing a presidential visit “at the earliest suitable date in November” to complete the final steps and formalize the deal.
Russia Signals ‘Openness’ to Ukraine Talks
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Moscow still considers Trump’s initial plan as the only “substantive” basis for talks so far – while stressing that Moscow has not yet received the latest, shortened version of the plan via official channels.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has, in turn, reported that Moscow has obtained Trump’s plan via “unofficial channels” and is prepared to discuss it.
Lavrov said the White House had not provided the updated version that media reports describe as a reduced, 19-point framework.
A Russian official characterized the document reportedly taken from Geneva to Abu Dhabi as an “intermediate version,” and said Russia is now waiting for a new draft reflecting agreement among the White House, Ukraine, and the EU.
At the same time, a US official told CBS News that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to believe he will take Ukraine’s Donetsk region “one way or the other” – either through negotiations or on the battlefield – and said the Trump administration’s talks in Geneva began from the premise that Putin is correct.