Trump sends representatives to Kyiv and Moscow to finalize the peace plan for Ukraine

Washington/BarcelonaDonald Trump has dampened expectations of an imminent face-to-face meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and is deploying his special envoys to advance the peace plan for Ukraine. In a post on Truth Social, the US president announced that Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to speak with Vladimir Putin about the new draft and that, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will meet with the Ukrainians. Trump, who had initially set this Thursday as the deadline for Zelensky to accept the agreement and made the meeting imminent, has now cooled things down: "I look forward to meeting with President Zelensky and President Putin soon, but only when the agreement to end the war is in its final stages."

"The original 28-point peace plan, drafted by the United States, has been refined with additional input from both sides, and only a few points of disagreement remain," wrote Trump, who added that he and the Vice President, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will be briefed on the talks once they conclude. The Republican leader has enthusiastically celebrated the progress made in recent days.

The ultimatum that had Zelensky between a rock and a hard place seems to be easing under the president's new announcement. Last week, Trump presented a plan in Kyiv to end the war—negotiated in secret with Moscow—that accepted most of the Kremlin's demands. At the time, the Republican told Zelensky he had until this Thursday to respond, but since then the demands have softened and the pace has slowed. European leaders have worked with the President of Ukraine to develop a counterproposal less unfavorable, which Moscow had already rejected in advance.

Zelensky's planned trip to Washington to personally convince Trump of some key details is now up in the air.

"I hope the visit takes place as soon as possible, because... it will help President Trump continue his historic mission to end this war," Zelensky had said hours earlier to a coalition of European leaders, according to sources from the US media outlet Axios. The leader said he was prepared to move forward with the agreement proposed by the United States and willing to discuss its most delicate aspects with the US president in talks that, he said, should include European allies. Ukraine's security chief, Rustem Umerov, asserted that Zelensky's visit should take place this November "at the earliest appropriate time." Trump, however, came out hours later to downplay this deadline and, therefore, postpone the urgency.

Europe asserts its position

The Trump and Zelensky teams reached a "common agreement on the key terms of the agreement discussed" in talks Monday in Geneva. Kyiv confirmed Monday night that it had managed to reduce the initial draft, which had 28 points, and eliminate some of the requirements it considered most unacceptable. This new plan is more satisfactory for Ukraine, but as the Ukrainian president acknowledged, it will be "very difficult" to reach a consensus on the final document to be negotiated with Russia. Key points include the possible cession of territory to Moscow, the veto of Ukraine's potential entry into NATO, and Kyiv's ability to rearm in the future.

The European bloc is trying to protect itself in order to negotiate with Washington from a stronger position. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, led a virtual meeting of the so-called Voluntary Coalition on Tuesday to analyze the progress of negotiations. In addition to Volodymyr Zelensky and the group's members, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and NATO Chairman Mark Rutte also participated. The coalition, formed in March and comprised of some 30 countries (mostly European), aims to provide security guarantees for Ukraine once a ceasefire with Moscow is reached. The leaders welcomed the progress in the negotiations and, in general, expressed a conciliatory attitude toward the idea of narrowing the gap with Washington's proposal. However, they insisted on the need to provide security guarantees for Ukraine that would prevent Russia from resuming attacks at any time. "We are moving in the right direction, and current indications suggest that, for the most part, most of the text, according to Zelensky, can be accepted," Starmer said at the start of the meeting. He reiterated the "multinational force" that should be deployed in Ukraine as a "vital part" of the agreement that must be reached. Along the same lines, Macron warned that the indispensable condition for supporting Washington's plan is the establishment of "very solid security guarantees." "We want peace, but we don't want a peace that is a capitulation for Ukraine. That is, one that puts Ukraine in an impossible situation, that gives Russia complete freedom to continue and go further—also toward other European states—and that endangers our security," the French leader said in a previous statement. Attack on Kyiv

While The diplomatic machinery is working tirelessly to achieve a peace agreement in Ukraine.The war machine continues unabated, and Russia is trying to impose its conditions at the negotiating table by pressuring the front lines and attacking the Ukrainian population. This morning, the Kremlin unleashed a barrage of drones on Kyiv, leaving seven dead and around twenty wounded, and disrupting electricity and heating systems.

Ukrainian authorities have shot down 438 of the 460 drones and 14 of the 22 missiles launched by Moscow in what is the second major Russian attack on the capital this month. "The main target has been the energy sector and everything that sustains normal life," Zelensky said in a Telegram post. The attack also damaged several residential buildings, energy infrastructure, and port infrastructure in the Odessa region. But some of the drones had previously flown over neighboring countries such as Moldova and Romania, a NATO member, Zelensky said. In response, Romania has scrambled fighter jets to track the aircraft, the Bucharest Defense Ministry said.