By Lauren Kent, CNN
Photo: AFP / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service
Explainer: Meetings in Switzerland. Talks in the United Arab Emirates. A possible Ukrainian presidential visit to the United States.
And yet, despite the recent flurry of diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine and officials touting promising developments, more often than not in off-the-record briefings, it's hard to say if an agreement is actually close to the finish line. The core demands of each side remain the same.
The Trump administration is pushing hard to get a landmark agreement, but Russian President Vladimir Putin and his delegates have not given any indication that they want the years-long conflict to end in compromise.
Now, a US official has briefed reporters in a closed group that Ukraine agreed to a peace proposal - which may or may not be attractive to Russia - even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "much work still lies ahead".
It comes after Ukrainian and European officials strongly opposed and then revised the 28-point peace plan they were blindsided with last week, which was drafted by the US with apparent strong input from Russia.
What we do know from the first round of draft deals is that the Kremlin is still pushing its maximalist aims to demilitarise Ukraine, bar its entry into NATO and formally claim some of its territory.
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