According to Politico, U. S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll is expected on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi to present Russian officials with a shortened version of the American plan for a settlement in Ukraine, now reduced to 19 points. The outlet’s sources said the revised draft was prepared following discussions between the United States and Ukraine held on Sunday.

Driscoll is reportedly set to show Moscow a document that represents a condensed form of the original 28-point proposal. On Monday, CBS, citing a U.S. official, reported that Driscoll had already met with Russian representatives and planned to continue talks on Tuesday.

Earlier, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov noted that Moscow had received signals from Washington expressing readiness for an in-person meeting and for starting discussions on the U.S. plan, although no concrete arrangements had been reached yet.

Financial Times, citing its own sources, wrote that Driscoll arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday for talks with Kirill Budanov*, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, who is listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist, as well as with the Russian delegation. The newspaper added that it remains unclear whether these contacts are taking place in a trilateral format or in separate meetings.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting on November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the U.S. plan could, in principle, form the basis for a future peace agreement, but its substance had not yet been discussed with Moscow. He suggested this might be due to Washington’s inability to secure Kyiv’s approval. Putin added that Ukraine and its European allies continue to operate under the illusion that they can inflict a «strategic defeat» on Russia, which he attributed to their lack of objective information about the real situation on the battlefield.

*Kirill Budanov — designated by Rosfinmonitoring as a terrorist and extremist