U.S. Army secretary engages Russians on Ukraine peace framework amid deadly Kyiv

While missiles rain down on Kyiv, a potential breakthrough in the Ukraine conflict is unfolding in Abu Dhabi.

On Tuesday, November 25, 2025, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll sat down with Russian officials to pitch a revised peace plan aimed at halting Russia’s 33-month invasion of Ukraine, even as fresh strikes claimed at least seven lives in Ukraine’s capital.

Let’s rewind a bit to set the stage. Talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials kicked off in Geneva over the weekend, hammering out a new framework to end what’s been called Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. This isn’t just another diplomatic photo-op; it’s a serious attempt to stop the carnage.

From 28 points to 19: a slimmed-down plan

Before Abu Dhabi, Driscoll met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on November 20 to discuss an earlier 28-point peace outline. That plan has now been trimmed to 19 points, dropping some of the more contentious demands. It’s a pragmatic move, even if it feels like trimming fat off a steak that’s still raw.

Interestingly, the revised framework no longer forces Ukraine to cede all of its eastern Donbas region to Russia, leaving territorial disputes for later resolution between President Trump and Zelensky. Also gone is the demand that Ukraine abandon NATO aspirations—a sticking point that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long cited as a trigger for the invasion that started in February 2022. This could be a rare moment of sanity in a war of stubborn posturing.

The White House had nudged Ukraine to agree to the original 28-point plan by Thanksgiving 2025, though it wasn’t a take-it-or-leave-it deal. Still, one has to wonder if this rush to the table is driven by genuine hope or just a desire to check a box before the holiday turkey gets cold.

Deadly strikes eclipse peace talks

While diplomats talked peace, the reality on the ground in Ukraine was anything but peaceful. Overnight from Monday, November 24, into Tuesday, November 25, Russia unleashed a barrage of 22 missiles and over 460 drones on Ukraine, knocking out water, electricity, and heat in parts of Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported at least seven dead and 20 injured in the capital alone.

Video footage captured a raging fire in a nine-story residential building in Kyiv’s eastern Dniprovskyi district, a stark reminder of the human toll. Later on November 25, another strike in the western Sviatoshynyi district killed four and injured three in a nonresidential building, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s city administration. It’s hard to stomach such loss while diplomats sip coffee half a world away.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed these strikes targeted military-industrial facilities and energy assets, framing them as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian targets. Meanwhile, neighboring Romania and Moldova reported drones breaching their airspace on November 25, with one landing in each country—a spillover that should make everyone nervous about this war’s reach.

Violence on both sides of the border

The violence wasn’t one-sided, as Ukraine launched what the Associated Press tallied as the fourth-largest drone attack of its kind on Russia’s southern Rostov region overnight on November 24-25. Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar reported three deaths and eight injuries in Taganrog, near the Ukrainian border. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it downed 249 Ukrainian drones, including 116 over the Black Sea, alongside occupied Crimea.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Odesa region saw six injured, including two children, from a Russian attack on energy and port infrastructure on November 25, per Ukraine’s emergency services. This tit-for-tat destruction shows neither side is backing down, no matter what’s discussed in fancy conference rooms.

On the diplomatic front, there’s cautious optimism, though it’s tempered by skepticism about whether any plan can stick. “Late Monday and throughout Tuesday, Secretary Driscoll and team have been in discussions with the Russian delegation to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine. The talks are going well, and we remain optimistic,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Tolbert, a U.S. Army spokesman.

Optimism or overconfidence in peace talks?

Well, optimism is nice, but let’s not pop the champagne just yet—wars aren’t ended by press releases. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hinted at past frustrations, saying, “After Anchorage, when we thought these understandings had already been formalized, there was a long pause. And now the pause has been broken by the introduction of this document … A whole series of issues there, of course, require clarification.”

Lavrov’s words suggest Russia isn’t ready to sign anything without a microscope over every detail, and who can blame them when trust is thinner than a dollar-store napkin? Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side seems to be holding its ground against external pressures and disinformation, as Zelensky himself noted the challenges of maintaining national resolve during such negotiations.

At the end of the day, this revised 19-point plan might be a step toward ending the bloodshed, but the devil’s always in the details—and the drones. While Secretary Driscoll’s efforts in Abu Dhabi are commendable, the fresh graves in Kyiv and Rostov remind us that peace on paper means little until the bombs stop falling. Let’s hope this isn’t just another diplomatic mirage in a desert of endless conflict.