Trump backs ‘fine-tuned’ plan as talks gather pace

Ukraine and the United States appear to be edging closer to a peace deal over the war with Russia, in a potentially significant diplomatic shift following crunch talks in Switzerland.

- JAMES C. REYNOLDS

President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that Kyiv was ready to move forward with a framework to end the war with Russia.

In a day of fast-moving developments, Kyiv said it supported the “essence” of the Geneva plan while stressing there were still some sensitive issues that needed to be fixed.

US president Donald Trump, who last week imposed a deadline of tomorrow for Ukraine to accept, said he thought a deal was now “very close”.

“We’re going to get there,” he told reporters at the White House yesterday. “I think we’re getting very close to a deal - we'll find out ... I think we’re making progress.”

Last night Mr Trump said his plan to end the war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” and that he is sending envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin and army secretary Dan Driscoll to meet Ukrainian officials in a bid to iron out a “few remaining points of disagreement” between the warring countries. But Mr Trump also said he will only meet with Putin and Mr Zelensky in the “final stages” of the peace deal.

Mr Zelensky said: “We worked with the Ukrainian negotiating team today [Tuesday] on the text of the document prepared with the United States in Geneva. The principles in this document can be developed into deeper agreements. It is in our shared interest that security is real.