US cheered by Ukraine peace talks, but 'a few delicate details remain'

The White House trumpeted “tremendous progress” in peace negotiations with Russia and Ukraine yesterday, but as discussions between US, Russian and Ukrainian officials continued in Abu Dhabi there was little sign of progress on core sticking points that have prevented a deal taking shape so far.

- Shaun Walker Warsaw Dan Sabbagh Kyiv

The White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, put an optimistic spin on the talks.

Writing on X, however, she conceded there were “a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details” that would require further talks.

Donald Trump said he believed a deal was close, telling a White House event: “We're going to get there.”

There was no sign that agreement had been reached on key issues such as territorial concessions or future security guarantees, nor was there any suggestion that a revised US-Ukraine agreement discussed in Geneva on Sunday would be something to which Russia would agree.

Moscow, meanwhile, continued its nightly assaults on Ukrainian cities, firing 22 missiles and 464 drones primarily at targets in and around Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he would be willing to meet Trump as soon as possible to discuss the final details of an agreement. Ukrainian officials said they were close to accepting the framework of a deal, but that some details could only be discussed at presidential level.

“Our delegations reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva,” the secretary of Ukraine’s security council, Rustem Umerov, wrote on Facebook yesterday. “We look forward to organising a visit of Ukraine’s president to the US at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump.”