WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and a high-level military delegation are in Ukraine on a dual mission discussing new efforts to find a peace settlement to the war and to meet with military officials to see what critical lessons the U.S. can learn to innovate faster and protect the homeland, U.S. officials told NewsNation.
Driscoll plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials during the visit, a U.S. official said.
He arrived in Kyiv earlier Wednesday.
Last week President Trump directed Driscoll to help kick-start efforts to reach a settlement between Ukrainians and Russians, the official said. Driscoll is not replacing Special Envoy Steve Witkoff or others already working on the issue. This is “adding additional capacity” to help with the peace process, the official said.
Driscoll, with his military background, brings a different set of skills and perspective to try to reach a settlement, the official added.
On his other goal, Driscoll and his delegation will meet with various Ukrainian government and defense industry officials. They want to hear first-hand about the technology, such as the use of drones Ukraine is using in the war, what lessons the government has learned and how the U.S. can innovate faster. Driscoll will be in Ukraine for a few days.
Driscoll is aiming to meet with the Russians soon as part of the renewed effort to reach a peace deal, the official said, adding hopefully that meeting will be relatively soon, but no date is set. It will not be during this current trip.