A top Ukrainian official said his country and the U.S. reached "a common understanding on the core terms" of an agreement to end nearly four years of war, with final negotiations to take place between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump by the weekend.

Ukraine's national security adviser Rustem Umerov said Zelenskyy was planning to visit the U.S. in the next few days to "complete final steps to make a deal" with the U.S. president. Trump set an initial deadline of this Thursday for an agreement to be reached, but the White House has since tweaked the timing to say it's trying to reach consensus as soon as possible.

A U.S. official confirmed that the core aspects of a deal had been reached but was not able to say what those were due to the sensitivity of the negotiations. The person said that technical details of the agreement still needed to be hammered out. A second official stressed that the White House is optimistic about a deal but did not say one had been reached with Ukraine.

The latest movements toward peace came after Ukrainian, American and European officials gathered in Geneva on Nov. 23 to discuss a draft plan presented by Washington to end the conflict that began in 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The current version of the plan has not been made public and it would also have to be accepted Russia. U.S. officials familiar with the discussion have declined to say what is in the working draft due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is currently in Abu Dhabi discussing the plan with a Russian delegation. Ukraine also sent officials to the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. official said. It was not immediately clear who participating in the talks for the two sides. Driscoll was the highest-ranking U.S. official to participate in the talks. He was added to the mix last week by Trump as an additional representative and presented a previous version of the proposal to Zelenskyy last week in Ukraine.

Driscoll also joined a call with Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance. The army secretary is a law school buddy of Vance's and his addition to the team represented a shake-up in negotiations, as Trump expressed public frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy over the war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and a first-term Trump administration official who's been involved in recent peace talks, joined Driscoll and Ukrainian negotiators last weekend in Geneva.

Rubio said after those talks that a progress had been made few issues remained. "I don’t want to declare victory or finality here. There’s still some work to be done."

"Some of it is semantics or language; others require higher-level decisions and consultation; others, I think, just need more time to work through," said Rubio, who's also the acting national security adviser to Trump.

Kyiv and its allies in Europe had voiced alarm over a previous draft of the Trump-backed proposal that would have required Ukraine to concede territory to Russia and cap the size of its military.

"Our delegations reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva. We now count on the support of our European partners in our further steps," Umerov said on Nov. 25 post on X.

Zelenskyy also expressed his support for what he described as the "updated framework" that came out of the negotiations.

"The Ukrainian team returned from Geneva and provided a complete report along with an updated framework Communication with the American side continues, and I am grateful for all of America’s efforts and personally for President Trump’s efforts," he wrote on Nov. 25 in a post on X.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the House of Commons on Nov. 25 that “there’s still a long way to go and a tough road ahead" and that "matters about Ukraine and it's future must be determined by Ukraine".

"Ukraine continues to hold the line. They continue to mount a fearless defense of their country and they deserve not just our respect, but our help and our support," Starmer said.

In a statement on Nov. 23, the White House said "meaningful progress toward aligning positions and identifying clear next steps" had been made with Ukraine.

"They reaffirmed that any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and deliver a sustainable and just peace," the statement released by the White House said. "As a result of the discussions, the parties drafted an updated and refined peace framework."

Zelenskyy posted a video on X from the meeting in Geneva on Nov. 23 saying that while he was grateful for all the support, it was important to ensure that the steps taken to end the war are effective.

"Ukraine has never wanted war, and we will never be an obstacle to peace. Diplomacy has been reinvigorated — and this is good," he said. "We expect the outcome to deliver the right steps. And the first priority is a reliable peace, guaranteed security, respect for our people, and respect for everyone who gave their lives defending Ukraine from Russian aggression."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will there be a Ukraine deal? Breakthrough cited ahead of Trump-Zelensky talks

Reporting by Francesca Chambers and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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