US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll reportedly held talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Monday, Nov. 24.
Reuters, citing a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that Driscoll’s talks were expected to continue on Tuesday. It was not known who would be part of the Russian delegation.
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According to the source, Driscoll is also expected to meet with Ukrainian officials while in Abu Dhabi.
The White House has not officially commented on the information.
Driscoll’s meeting with Russian officials followed a visit to the Ukrainian capital last week.
He had traveled into Ukraine accompanied by several senior US military leaders: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, US Army Europe and Africa commander Gen. Chris Donahue, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer, and Lt. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, who oversees the US military assistance program for Ukraine.
However, these officers did not take part in the follow-up discussions in Geneva and are not involved in the latest talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, according to ABC News.
Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya called the news a “logical continuation” of ongoing peace talks without confirming or denying it on X.
“As already reported by the media, on Monday Dan Driscoll held talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, which is a logical continuation of the work on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. The talks may continue on Tuesday,” Kyslytsya wrote.
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The same information was reportedly confirmed to CBS News by two American officials and two diplomatic sources who were not authorized to speak publicly.
These sources said Driscoll held a meeting with members of the Russian delegation for several hours on Monday evening, and plans to meet with them again on Tuesday to discuss the peace process and move the talks forward quickly.
A US official told CBS News that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to believe that he will take over Ukraine’s Donetsk region one way or another – either through negotiations or on the battlefield.
Over the weekend, Driscoll, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s Russia envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and diplomats from Ukraine and European allies participated in talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Trump administration’s talks in Geneva began with the premise that Putin is right, a US official told CBS News.
The latest US peace plan, originally comprising 28 points, has raised new concerns that the Trump administration may be pressuring Ukraine to sign a deal that would be highly beneficial to Moscow.
In contrast, the EU presented its own plan, and Kyiv Post analyzed the similarities and differences between the two documents.
The US presidential administration claims that the vast majority of points in the plan to end the war in Ukraine have already been agreed upon, with “a few differences” remaining.
ABC News has learned that the 28-point peace plan the US presented to Ukraine in Geneva has now been reduced to 19 points. The revised draft reportedly removes two major elements from the original version: a clause on wartime amnesty and proposed limits on the future size of Ukraine’s armed forces.
According to the outlet, citing the US official, “Driscoll traveled to Abu Dhabi, where on Monday, he met secretly with a Russian delegation to go over the changes made to the 28-point plan discussed in Geneva.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday evening that Ukraine’s delegation had returned from negotiations in Geneva with US and European officials over a revised version of Washington’s peace plan.
Zelensky confirmed that the original 28-point proposal drafted by President Donald Trump’s team had been significantly reduced.
“As of now, after Geneva, there are fewer points – no longer 28 – and many of the right elements have been taken into account,” he said.
He added that work on the document remains “very challenging” and must be completed “with dignity.”
Zelensky also indicated that some of the most sensitive issues – including questions of occupied territories and NATO – would be handled directly in his talks with Trump. His team, he said, had already presented “a new draft of steps,” calling this “the right approach.”
Moscow, however, criticized Europe’s involvement. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told state media that the EU’s counter-proposal was “entirely unconstructive and unsuitable for us.”
Meanwhile, AFP reported, citing a senior official, that Washington strongly urged Kyiv to accept its proposals. While the US did not explicitly threaten to withdraw support, the Ukrainian delegation reportedly understood it as a possibility.
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