US and Ukrainian negotiators have agreed on an “updated and refined peace framework” and plan to continue “intensive” work on a peace plan in the coming days, the two countries announced on Sunday.
A joint statement said negotiations in Geneva on a U.S.-backed plan had been “very productive.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been “tremendous progress” in developing a plan that was greeted cautiously by Russia, but not by leaders in kyiv and Europe, who view it as too friendly to the Kremlin.
Rubio said there was “still work to be done,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were “signals that President [Donald] The Trump team is listening to us.”
Speaking to reporters Sunday evening, Rubio said the negotiating teams in Geneva had a “very good day.”
He said the main objective had been to try to narrow down the “outstanding points” of the 28-point US plan, and that the parties involved had achieved this “substantially”.
However, the top US diplomat said any final deal would have to be agreed by the Ukrainian and US presidents before it could be submitted to Russia, and that some issues were still being negotiated.
Positive accounts of the meeting came hours after Trump accused Ukrainian leaders of showing “no gratitude” for U.S. efforts to end the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The US president also stressed that Europe – where kyiv has some of its most loyal allies – continues to buy oil from Russia. Moscow depends largely on its oil and gas exports to continue financing its war in Ukraine.
Several media outlets reported seeing an alternative plan to end the war drawn up by kyiv’s European allies, led by the United Kingdom, France and Germany. The BBC has not seen the document and Rubio has denied any knowledge of its existence.
Although the U.S.-backed draft plan has not been released in full, important details have emerged in recent days.
Among the controversial provisions are Ukraine’s agreement to withdraw its troops from parts of the eastern Donetsk region it currently controls, as well as international recognition of Russian de facto control over Donetsk, the neighboring Luhansk region and the south of the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.
The plan also calls for freezing the borders of Ukraine’s southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia along the current battle lines, and would see Ukraine agree to limit the size of its army to 600,000 troops, down from around 880,000 currently.
The plan crucially includes a commitment from Ukraine not to seek NATO membership. Instead, kyiv would benefit from “reliable security guarantees,” about which no details were given.
The document states that Russia is “expected” not to invade its neighbors and that NATO will not expand further.
The draft also suggests that Russia will be “reintegrated into the global economy”, through the lifting of sanctions and by inviting Russia to join the G7 group of the world’s most powerful countries, making it the G8 again.
Trump had previously given Ukraine until next Thursday to accept the proposals, but then said the plan did not constitute a “final offer” after Ukraine’s allies raised concerns.
And Rubio told reporters Sunday that he’s “very optimistic that we’ll get there in a very reasonable timeframe very soon,” whether that’s Thursday, other days or Monday of the following week.
Before negotiations began in Geneva, Rubio and the State Department insisted that the widely leaked plan was written by the United States.
This came after a bipartisan group of US senators claimed the secretary of state told them the project was a Russian proposal and did not represent the position of the Trump administration.
Rubio refuted that account and said it was written by the United States with “input” from Moscow and Kyiv, while a State Department spokesperson called the senators’ account of their conversation with Rubio “patently false.”
