US army secretary Dan Driscoll is holding talks in Abu Dhabi with Ukraine’s military intelligence chief and a Russian delegation as Washington pushes for a deal to end the Kremlin’s war.

From the front-line city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk, to Zaporizhzhia in the south, there is little doubt that Russia is making advances. But, battlefield monitors suggest the picture is not quite so bleak for Ukraine as Trump and Putin suggest.

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday after rising in the previous session as concerns supply will exceed demand next year outweighed worries Russian shipments will remain under sanctions as talks to end the Ukraine war remain inconclusive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a lengthy response after Trump blamed Ukrainian leadership for its “violent and terrible” war with Russia.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, has warned the proposal to end the war with Russia could come with consequences.

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Monday to discuss trade, Taiwan and Ukraine, according to the White House and Chinese officials.

Russia launched a combined missile and drone attack on Ukraine, concentrated heavily on the capital Kyiv, just hours after President Donald Trump struck a positive tone on prospects for a ceasefire deal.