The United States and Ukraine are to continue work on Monday on a plan to end the war with Russia after agreeing to modify an earlier proposal that was widely seen as too favourable to Moscow.
The two sides said in a joint statement they had drafted a “refined peace framework” after talks in Geneva on Sunday, although they did not provide specifics.
The White House separately said the Ukrainian delegation had told them it “reflects their national interests” and “addresses their core strategic requirements”, although Kyiv did not issue a statement of its own.
It was not clear how the updated plan would handle a host of issues, including how to guarantee Ukraine’s security against ongoing threats from Russia.
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The US and Ukraine said they would continue “intensive work” in advance of a Thursday deadline, although US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who led the American delegation during the talks, was flying back to Washington late on Sunday.
US president Donald Trump has kept up the pressure on Ukraine to reach a deal. On Sunday, he said Ukraine had shown “zero gratitude” for American efforts over the war, prompting Ukrainian officials to emphasise their thanks for his support.
Mr Trump previously set a Thursday deadline for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accept a peace plan, but Mr Rubio said on Sunday that deadline might not be set in stone.
Mr Zelenskiy could travel to the US as soon as this week to discuss the most sensitive aspects of the plan with Mr Trump, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The initial 28-point proposal put forth by the US last week called on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and abandon its ambitions to join Nato. Those terms would amount to capitulation for many Ukrainians after nearly four years of fighting in Europe’s deadliest conflict since the second World War.
The original plan came as a surprise to US officials across the administration, and two sources said on Saturday it was crafted at an October meeting in Miami that included special envoy Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy who is under US sanctions.
Democratic Party politicians have criticised it as essentially a Russian wish list, but Mr Rubio has insisted that Washington authored the plan with input from both sides in the war.
European allies said they were not involved in crafting the original plan, and they released a counter-proposal on Sunday that would ease some of the proposed territorial concessions and include a Nato-style security guarantee from the United States for Ukraine if it is attacked.
The talks come as Russia has slowly gained ground in some regions, while Ukraine’s power and gas facilities have been pummeled by drone and missile attacks, leaving millions of people without water, heating and power for hours each day.
Mr Zelenskiy has also been under pressure at home, as a major corruption scandal has ensnared some of his ministers, stirring fresh anger at pervasive graft. That has complicated the country’s efforts to secure funding to keep its economy afloat.
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. – Reuters
