US official: Ukraine has agreed to peace deal, but some minor details still need to be worked out

Is a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine finally in sight after almost four years?

Ukraine has "agreed to a peace agreement" but "some minor details still need to be worked out," a US official told the BBC.

Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's Security Council, said his team is "looking forward" to organizing a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the United States (US) "as soon as possible in November."

"This would take the final steps and reach an agreement" with Donald Trump, the US president.

The US and Ukrainian delegations reached "joint agreement on the basic terms" of the peace plan, referring to their meeting in Geneva on November 23, he wrote on social media.

Kiev has not commented on these claims, nor has the White House confirmed the possibility of any talks between Zelensky and Trump.

Meanwhile, America confirmed to the BBC that their officials will meet with Russian representatives in Abu Dhabi to discuss the plan in more detail.

The Kremlin has not yet received a "provisional" version of the revised plan, said Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister.

He added that Moscow's position is that the proposal should reflect the "spirit and letter" of the talks in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Leaders in Kiev and Europe criticized the initial draft of the peace plan, saying it was too favorable to Russia.

The counterproposals, reportedly drawn up by the UK, France and Germany, rule out any recognition of regions under Russian control, increase the permitted number of Ukrainian troops and leave open the possibility of Kiev joining NATO.

Ukrainian President Zelensky has welcomed proposed changes to the controversial 28-point US peace plan.

"Now the list of necessary steps to end the war is more feasible. Many of the right elements are included in this framework," he said.

A Kremlin official rejected the amendments, calling them "completely unconstructive."

A virtual meeting of Ukraine's "coalition of the willing" European allies is scheduled for November 25 to discuss developments, said Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister.

While diplomats try to find an adequate solution, Russia and Ukraine continue to carry out air strikes on each other.

According to Zelensky, 22 missiles and more than 460 drones were launched into the country on the night of November 24-25.

At least seven people have been killed in Russian attacks on Kiev, officials say.

A fire broke out in an apartment building in the Dnipro district, prompting residents to evacuate. Emergency services evacuated 18 people, including three children.

The fire has been localized, and the search for the missing continues, said Timur Tkachenko, head of the Kiev military administration.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry confirmed that there had been a "massive, combined enemy attack" on the country's energy infrastructure facilities.

NATO scrambled four aircraft over Romania.

For the third time in four days, its planes were sent to intercept drones in the border region of Ukraine, and six Russian drones were also detected over Moldova.

The Russian Ministry of Defense also made a statement, claiming that it had intercepted 249 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the Black Sea and Kursk.

At least three people were killed and ten injured in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian Rostov region, according to local authorities.

One of the victims is from the city of Taganrog, and its mayor, Svetlana Kambulova, is promising "necessary response measures."

The nighttime bombing of Ukraine is "one of the longest and most massive attacks by the Kiev regime," said Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region.

The proposed peace plan, drawn up by American and Russian officials, has caused widespread outrage in Ukraine, but also among its European allies, who see it as too favorable to the Kremlin.

Caroline Leavitt, a White House spokeswoman, rejected claims that the Trump administration is "not engaging equally with both sides in this war."

Following the conclusion of talks in Geneva between the US and Ukraine, Trump stated that "something good may be happening" and added "don't believe it until you see it."

Welcoming the latest proposed changes, Zelensky said the "main problem" was Putin's demand for legal recognition of territory occupied by Russia.

Russia has demanded Ukraine's complete withdrawal from the entire eastern Donbas region, which consists of Donetsk and Lugansk.

Moscow annexed Crimea, a peninsula in southern Ukraine, in 2014, and also controls large parts of the Kherson region and Zaporizhia.

The final peace plan should prevent Moscow from invading again and Russia "definitely should not" rejoin the G8 group, said Kaia Kalas, the European Union's foreign policy chief.

"How can you think that?" she said on BBC Radio 4's "Today" show.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians have been killed or injured, and millions of people have fled their homes since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.