Ukraine's gas facilities have suffered severe damage from Russian drone and missile attacks, forcing the country to import more gas

As Washington ramps up its negotiations with Ukraine and Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump expresses optimism that a peace deal could be close, there are still some very critical and contentious issues on which Kyiv and Moscow are in deep disagreement.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll held meetings with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday about a proposed plan for ending the war in Ukraine, with talks to continue Tuesday, a US official told CNN.

Ukrainian officials remain determinedly upbeat in comments on the new US push to end the war with Russia, but people in Kyiv fear that a deal would strongly favour Moscow, impose unacceptable terms on Ukraine and fail to prevent any future Kremlin aggression.

The Trump administration’s Army secretary will sit down Tuesday with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi to present a slimmed-down plan to end Moscow’s 33-month-old invasion of Ukraine.

President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week with other senior U.S. officials for talks with Russian leaders about a possible peace plan for Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Trump said Russia is “making concessions” and that he now has “no deadline” for the process after initially saying Ukraine had until Thanksgiving to decide. He said the sides are making good progress,