Nov. 23 (UPI) — Talks between the United States and Ukraine in Switzerland have been the “most productive and meaningful so far,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.
Officials from both countries are meeting in Switzerland as the United States works to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine in the latest chapter of war between the two countries, which has dragged on since early 2022.
Ukrainian and Russian officials have been presented with the draft of a 28-point plan aimed at ending the war.
The plan suggests that Russia could be given more Ukrainian territory than it currently holds, while putting limits on Ukraine’s army and prevents Ukraine from even becoming a member of NATO. These conditions hew very closely to Moscow’s demands for peace.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the White House described the meetings held in Geneva as having been “extensive and productive,” the conversation “candid, detailed and conducted in a spirit of partnership and shared purpose.”
The Ukrainian delegation affirmed that all their principal concerns — meaning security guarantees, long-term economic development, infrastructure protection and political sovereignty — “were thoroughly addressed during the meeting,” the White House statement said.
“Ukrainian representatives stated that, based on the revisions and clarifications presented today, they believe the current draft reflects their national interests and provides credible and enforceable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine’s security in both the near and long term,” it said.
Rubio, speaking to reporters in Geneva, signaled that issues that remain will be settled.
“I can tell you that the items that remain open are not insurmountable, we just need more time than what we have today,” he said. “I honestly believe we’ll get there.”
Asked if Ukraine was willing to compromise on ceding land to Russia, which has been a sticking point for Kyiv, Rubio declined to get into specifics.
President Donald Trump had initially given Ukraine a Thursday deadline, which he seemingly walked back on Saturday, telling reporters at the White House that the plan wasn’t his final offer to Kyiv.
Rubio said they’d “love” to have a deal in place by Thursday, but “the important part today is that we have made substantial progress.”
“We’ve really moved forward,” he said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in a recorded statement on Sunday confirmed his delegation had met with the Americans as well as the Europeans.
“It is important that there is dialogue with the American representatives, and there are signals President Trump’s team is hearing us,” he said, speaking in Ukrainian.
“Diplomacy has been reinvigorated — and this is good,” he wrote in the caption accompanying the video. “We expect the outcome to deliver the right steps. And the first priority is a reliable peace, guaranteed security, respect for our people and respect for everyone who gave their lives defending Ukraine from Russian aggression.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a social media post Sunday that European leaders stand ready to reach a deal “despite some reservations,” but said “Before we start our work, it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators told reporters that Rubio told them the deal was not authored by the United States, nor was it the sole position of the Trump administration, but a proposal drafted by Russia and given to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, NBC News reported.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the plan appeared to be a “wish list of the Russians.”
Later, the State Department countered that claim, calling King’s words “patently false,” and said the plan was, indeed, the position of the Trump administration.
“The peace proposal was authored by the U.S.,” Rubio wrote on social media Saturday night. “It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
The plan proposes that areas of Ukraine’s Donbas region still under Ukrainian control are ceded to Russia, that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk are recognized as Russian territory by the United States and that Ukraine will reduce the number of troops in the region to 600,000.
Perhaps most controversially, the proposals also calls for Russia “to be reintegrated into the global economy” and be invited to rejoin the G8, an international forum for leaders of the world’s eight most industrialized nations.
