US, Ukrainian and European officials meet in Geneva for talks on peace plan

• US-backed plan requires Ukraine to cede territory, limit military, renounce NATO ambitions
• European leaders seek better deal for Kyiv before Trump’s Thursday deadline

GENEVA: Ukrainian, US and European officials met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss a draft plan presented by Washington to end the war in Ukraine, after Kyiv and its allies voiced alarm over what they saw as major concessions to the aggressor Russia.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had until Thursday to approve the 28-point plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO.

For many Ukrainians, including soldiers fighting on the front lines, such terms would amount to capitulation after nearly four years of fighting in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two. On Saturday, Trump said the current proposal for ending the war is not his final offer. Since the plan was announced, there has been confusion about who was involved in drawing it up. European allies said they had not been consulted.

As the officials began meeting behind closed doors in Geneva, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the goal was to craft a plan acceptable to Ukraine which could be used in a negotiation with Russia. That would likely take time, he said. “Right now, I’m not yet convinced we’re going to get the solution President Trump wants in the next few days,” Merz said on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Johannesburg.

Before heading to Geneva, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on X that Washington had authored the plan after remarks from some US senators suggesting otherwise. Senator Angus King said Rubio had told senators the plan was not the administration’s position, but “essentially the wish-list of the Russians.”

A PERILOUS MOMENT FOR UKRAINE

The draft plan, which includes many of Russia’s key demands and offers only vague assurances to Ukraine of “robust security guarantees,” comes at a perilous moment for the country.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that Ukraine’s borders cannot be changed by force, its army cannot be left vulnerable to attack and that the European Union must have a central role in a Ukraine peace deal. Russia has been making gains on parts of the front, albeit slowly and, according to Western and Ukrainian officials, the advances have been extremely costly in terms of lives lost.

The transportation hub of Pokrovsk has been partially taken by Russian forces and Ukrainian commanders say they do not have enough soldiers to prevent small, persistent incursions. Ukraine’s power and gas facilities have been pummelled by drone and missile attacks, meaning millions of people are without water, heating and power for hours each day.

Zelensky himself has been under pressure domestically after a major corruption scandal broke, ensnaring some of his ministers and people in his close entourage. He has warned that Ukraine risked losing its dignity and freedom — or Washington’s backing — over the US plan.

HANDING THE ADVANTAGE TO RUSSIA?

Zelensky welcomed the diplomatic efforts in Geneva, saying that he hoped they would lead to a result.

Kyiv had taken heart in recent weeks after the United States tightened sanctions on Russia’s oil sector, the main source of funding for the war, while its own long-range drone and missile strikes have caused considerable damage to the industry. But the draft peace plan appears to hand the diplomatic advantage back to Moscow. Ukraine relies heavily on US intelligence and weapons to sustain its war against Russia.

Rubio and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived on Sunday for the hastily convened Geneva meeting. “We hope to iron out the final details...to draft a deal that is advantageous to them (Ukraine),” a US official said. “Nothing will be agreed on until the two presidents get together,” the official said, referring to Trump and Zelensky.

EUROPEANS DRAFT PLAN BASED ON US PROPOSAL

US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll was also in Geneva for the talks, where Ukraine’s delegation is led by the head of Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak.

Yermak said his delegation met with the national security advisers from Britain, France and Germany and would next hold talks with the United States. European and other Western leaders have said the US peace plan was a basis for talks to end the war but needed “additional work.” A German government source said a European draft peace plan, which is based on the US proposal, had been sent to Ukraine and to the US administration.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday about Ukraine and share the outcome with European and US allies. Putin has described the plan as the basis for a resolution to the conflict, but Moscow may object to some proposals in the scheme, which requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured.

A German government source said a European draft peace plan based on the US proposal had been sent to Ukraine and to the US administration. Asked about it, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said many plans had been floated featuring a range of contributions.

“That means that we have plenty of material to put together a peace plan which leads to a sustainable and just peace,” he told Reuters in Johannesburg.