European leaders are now working diligently to influence the US and Russia's peace plan for Ukraine.

• Emma Bø
• Silje Enghaug
• Per Magnus Nordrum Riseng
• Andreas Bakke Foss
• Arnhild Aass Kristiansen

Latest: The Ukrainian delegation that has been discussing peace proposals in Geneva, Switzerland, is now on its way home, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He says they will consider the next steps once the delegation returns to the Ukrainian capital.

Last Wednesday, it was revealed that the United States and Russia have secretly discussed an agreement to end the war in Ukraine. This agreement required, among other things, that Ukraine give up about 20 percent of its land. That's the size of Bulgaria.

In addition, the draft agreement demanded that Ukraine enshrine in its constitution that it will not join NATO, and that NATO guarantee that it will not grant Ukraine membership.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to halt intelligence cooperation and arms supplies if the deal is not signed this week. Later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that this deadline is not set in stone.

Throughout the weekend, there have been a number of crisis meetings on the agreement. Meetings continued on Monday, in both Geneva in Europe and Africa. Several report that progress has been made.

Several unacceptable points

Representatives from Ukraine and the United States met this weekend in Geneva.

In a joint statement Sunday evening, they described the talks as"very constructive, focused and respectful," adding that any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine's sovereignty.

The speaker of the National Assembly of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, says that Ukraine cannot agree to several key points in the US and Russia's peace plan.

Stefanchuk mentions three things Ukraine cannot agree to in the so-called peace agreement, according to the Reuters news agency:

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the US delegation at the talks, flew back to Washington late Sunday night. But the talks, which also include European leaders, continued on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that the plan could form the basis for a final peace solution, but added that the details must be discussed.

– Panic diplomacy

European leaders have also been highly critical of the proposed solution. In addition to the Geneva meeting, they also met in what is described as an informal meeting on Ukraine in Luanda, Angola, on the sidelines of a summit with the African Union.

“Ukraine's choice of destiny is in Ukraine's hands,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement after the meeting.

"These are our core principles going forward: Ukraine's territory and sovereignty must be respected. Only Ukraine, as a sovereign state, can make decisions about its military forces," she continued.

It has also been discussed at a summit of parliament presidents in Sweden.

– What we have seen now is a bit of panic diplomacy where people are scrambling around and trying, from Europe's side and Ukraine's side, to save this in a direction that Ukraine and we in Europe can live with, said Nupi researcher Karsten Friis to NRK's Nyhetsmorgen.

He further said that if there is an agreement to put pressure on Russia, there may be hope that the war will eventually end.

– But I have to say I'm still quite skeptical.

Still big problems

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told German radio station DLF Radio on Monday that the talks in Geneva had yielded a decisive success for Europeans, according to Reuters. Reuters previously translated the remarks as a decisive victory, but corrected the statement to a decisive success just before 8 a.m. Monday morning.

Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, says he spoke with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on Monday morning. Stubb says he is pleased with the progress in the talks, but that there are still major problems that need to be resolved.

Thank you Store

On Monday afternoon, it was also announced that Zelenskyj and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) had spoken on the phone.

– We discussed the diplomatic situation and bilateral cooperation. I am grateful for advice and support. Norway helps, as always, writes Zelenskyj on X.