Trump sends envoy to Moscow as Ukraine accepts peace deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has directed his special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in the hope of finalizing a peace deal as Ukraine has accepted it with "minor details" to be resolved.

"In the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow and, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

"The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement," Trump said, adding that his team has made "tremendous progress" over the past week.

Trump said he looks forward to hopefully meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy soon, but only when the peace deal is final or in its final stages.

On Monday and Tuesday, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll held talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on the draft, according to a statement from the U.S. Army.

"Late Monday and throughout Tuesday, Secretary Driscoll and team have been in discussions with the Russian delegation to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine," U.S. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jeff Tolbert said in the statement.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the peace plan prepared by Ukraine and the U.S. in Geneva could be developed into "deeper agreements."

In an address, Zelenskyy said he had discussed the plan with Ukraine's negotiating team. "The principles in this document can be developed into deeper agreements. And it is in our shared interest that security is real," he said.

He also voiced hope for continued active cooperation with the U.S. side and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Earlier in the day, Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine's presidential office, said Zelenskyy wants to meet with Trump to finalize a joint agreement on the terms for ending the Ukraine crisis, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators reached agreement in principle on most aspects of the U.S.-proposed peace plan, Yermak said, noting that the document was significantly modified from the original 28-point U.S. proposal. However, Zelenskyy hopes to negotiate territorial issues directly with Trump, Yermak added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France and Britain will launch a workshop with the involvement of the U.S. to coordinate security guarantees for Ukraine.

He made the remarks after a video conference of the "Coalition of the Willing" – a group of about 30 countries supporting Ukraine – in which he was joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Macron said the coming days would be taken up with defining the contributions of the parties ready to provide guarantees once a ceasefire is reached.

France and other EU members are also working on a plan to provide financial support to Ukraine, Macron said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Macron told the RTL broadcast that France could consider sending troops to Ukraine after a ceasefire as part of "reassurance forces" alongside British and Turkish units. However, he stressed that "the first security guarantee" for Ukraine remains the Ukrainian army.

(With input from Xinhua)