According to information provided by the American military, a delegation that includes Minister Driscoll, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army General Randy George, and Commander of the U.S. Army in Europe General Chris Donahue has arrived in Kyiv to discuss a ceasefire.
During their visit, Driscoll and his team will meet with Zelensky, who will return from Turkey on Thursday.
According to reports received on Wednesday, Washington and Moscow have prepared a new peace plan that includes significant concessions from Ukraine. However, there is currently no official confirmation from either side, as reported by the BBC.
“Minister Driscoll's team arrived in Kyiv to establish facts and negotiate with Ukrainian officials on issues related to ending the conflict,” noted Army Colonel David Butler in his statement.
Driscoll and General George are the highest-profile U.S. military officials to have conducted negotiations in Ukraine since Donald Trump took office as president in January.
On Wednesday, a photograph emerged showing Driscoll meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal and shaking his hand.
Shmyhal later noted in a post on X: “We discussed key steps for implementing the historic defense agreements reached between Presidents Zelensky and Trump.”
He also expressed gratitude to Washington for approving a package of assistance for the PATRIOT air defense system worth approximately $105 million (80 million pounds sterling).
According to a Ukrainian official who spoke with CBS, the American side will focus on the military situation and possible paths to achieving a ceasefire.
The official, who requested anonymity, emphasized: “Presidents Zelensky and Trump have already agreed on a ceasefire along the existing lines of contact, and security guarantees have also been discussed.”
This information comes amid reports that the U.S. and Russia have developed private proposals for ending the war.
According to Axios, the Financial Times, and Reuters, these plans imply that Ukraine will have to relinquish part of its territory and armaments, as well as significantly reduce the size of its armed forces.
Working on the peace plan, which consists of 28 points, were Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff and Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
The BBC has sent requests to the White House and Witkoff’s representative for comments.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, downplayed these reports, stating that “essentially, there are no innovations regarding our approach to the spirit of Anchorage,” referring to the recent meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska.
Details of the agreements reached during the meeting have not yet been disclosed.
Zelensky has repeatedly emphasized that he will not agree to territorial concessions to Russia.
Kyiv and its Western allies, including the U.S., insist on an immediate ceasefire along the extensive front line, but Moscow rejects this possibility, reiterating demands that Ukraine views as a de facto capitulation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously stated that Moscow's preliminary conditions for a peace agreement, including territorial concessions, have remained unchanged since they were articulated prior to the full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile, a White House representative confirmed that special representative to Ukraine Kurt Kellogg will leave his position in January, which he believes will be a natural conclusion to his role, which requires Senate approval for more than 360 days.
Kellogg was considered an important supporter of Ukraine in the Trump administration when the president often appeared to express support for Russia.
According to Axios, the new peace plan includes 28 points divided into four categories: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, security in Europe, and the future of U.S. relations with Ukraine and Russia.
Later on Wednesday, Axios published details about possible actions regarding the territories occupied by Russia.
According to Axios, the plan includes transferring the entire Donetsk region to Russia, recognition by the United States of Crimea and Donbas as Russian, and freezing the front line in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
As Axios notes, Ukraine and its allies will perceive this as significant concessions. From the perspective of the White House, if the conflict continues, Ukraine will inevitably lose these territories, so it needs to strive for an agreement as soon as possible.
According to the publication, the Trump administration proposes that the territory of Donbas, including Donetsk and Luhansk regions, come under Russian control but become a demilitarized zone.
The front line in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions should be frozen with the possibility of Russia transferring some undefined territories back to Ukraine.
The U.S. is prepared to officially recognize Crimea and Donbas as Russian, but will not force Ukraine to do so, Axios reports.
According to sources, President Zelensky has empowered Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov to negotiate the peace plan with Steve Witkoff, and many of his comments have been incorporated into the 28 points of the plan.
However, it is noted that there were no written proposals from Witkoff, and Umerov did not agree with the oral clarifications, citing objections to many points.
Witkoff was reportedly supposed to meet with Zelensky in Turkey on Wednesday, November 19, but postponed this trip.
Nevertheless, he had already discussed the proposed plan with Umerov at a meeting in Miami earlier in the week.
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy, expressed optimism about the plan, stating that Russia is truly being heard for the first time.
He added that the plan is based on principles discussed by Putin and Trump in August in Alaska.
“This is a much broader agreement that defines how we can achieve long-term security in Europe, not just in Ukraine,” Dmitriev noted.
Americans are trying to explain the “benefits” of this plan to both European countries and Ukrainians.
The new American peace plan, according to experts from the Financial Times and Reuters, is largely based on Russian demands.
FT correspondent in Kyiv Christopher Miller reported that the plan includes, in particular, halving the Ukrainian army and Ukraine’s relinquishment of all of Donbas.
“This can be seen as Ukraine's capitulation, as well as maximalist demands from the Kremlin,” Miller wrote.
Reuters also confirmed that the American plan includes a reduction of Ukrainian armed forces.
According to two sources, the U.S. has made it clear to Zelensky that he should agree to these proposals.
The publication RBC-Ukraine adds that the plan also includes a ban on Ukraine having long-range weapons.
