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Several high-ranking Army officials, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, are successful Ukraine to assistance with bid talks, U.S. officials said Wednesday (November 19, 2025), arsenic Trump medication efforts to halt Russia's warfare successful Ukraine person stalled.
Mr. Driscoll had been readying a travel to Ukraine for immoderate clip to sermon the country's drone warfare innovations and tactics, but past week President Donald Trump decided to place him arsenic a benignant of “special representative” to kick-start bid negotiations and behaviour a fact-finding mission, 1 of the officials said.
That authoritative confirmed Mr. Driscoll is scheduled to conscionable with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week arsenic good arsenic apical Ukrainian government, subject and defence manufacture officials.
Mr. Driscoll is accompanied by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, the service's astir elder officer; Gen. Chris Donahue, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commanding general; and Sgt. Maj. Michael Weimer, the Army's apical enlisted official, an Army authoritative said.
Both officials spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon delicate plans.
Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, said successful a station connected Facebook that the U.S. Army officials began their sojourn by gathering with Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal.
She said they were told astir the concern connected the battlefield and what was needed to fortify Ukraine's defence capabilities, and the 2 sides besides discussed areas of imaginable defence cooperation.
Minister Shmyhal posted a representation connected X of himself gathering with Mr. Driscoll. Both helium and the ambassador noted that the Americans and Ukrainians were focused connected implementing defence agreements reached betwixt Trump and Zelenskyy.
Neither Ukrainian authoritative mentioned immoderate treatment astir renewing bid negotiations with Russia.
White House lawman main of unit Stephen Miller declined to remark connected reports that the Trump medication has drafted a caller bid program and had dispatched US defence officials to Kyiv to spell implicit it with the Ukrainians.
“I would hold that that's an contented successful which the president has continued to enactment astatine the forefront of our overseas argumentation goal, which is to scope a colony successful the Ukraine-Russia war, truthful that we tin person bid successful Europe and we tin extremity the sidesplitting and the slaughter of truthful galore innocents,” Miller said.
The Trump administration's efforts to broker an extremity to the warfare person deed roadblocks since the president met with Russian President Vladimir Putin successful Alaska successful August. Tough caller US sanctions connected Russia's lipid manufacture are aimed astatine pushing him to the negotiating table.
Trump said past period that helium was putting connected clasp his program for a gathering with Putin successful Budapest, Hungary, due to the fact that helium didn't privation it to beryllium a “waste of time.” Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met successful Ankara connected Wednesday and said they're committed to uncovering a peaceful settlement. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia was not sending a typical to the gathering successful Turkiye, but insisted that Moscow was acceptable to negotiate.
The US official, meanwhile, said Driscoll is hoping to marque a consequent travel to conscionable with Russian officials for akin negotiations, adding that the intent is to execute Trump's tendency for bid arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable successful a mode that some sides support.
The travel to Ukraine besides volition assistance the US code the contented of drone warfare, which subject officials person consistently said is being pioneered by Ukraine.
During an quality Sunday connected CBS' “Face the Nation,” Driscoll said that drones were the “threat of humanity's lifetime.” He has spent a large information of his tenure arsenic Army caput pushing greater integration of drones into the US subject arsenal.
Shmyhal said successful his station that the Americans were shown Ukraine's “developments successful defence innovation: accumulation of FPV drones, interceptors, and deep-strike capabilities." The Wall Street Journal archetypal reported the sojourn by the Army officials. (AP) GRS GRS
