Ukrainian and American officials were expected on Monday to keep working on a revised peace plan to end the war with Russia, part of a flurry of diplomatic efforts after weekend talks that they called “highly productive.”
High-level discussions held in Geneva on Sunday were an attempt to address the concerns of Ukraine and its European allies that an early draft of the 28-point plan, which has been pushed by President Trump, was overly favorable to Moscow.
The White House and Ukraine’s presidency released a joint statement overnight calling the discussions “highly productive” and saying that “meaningful progress” had been made toward “aligning positions.”
“As a result of the discussions, the parties drafted an updated and refined peace framework,” the statement said. It added that “Ukraine and the United States agreed to continue intensive work on joint proposals in the coming days,” without saying where or in what format.
European leaders, many of whom sent delegations to Geneva to work alongside Ukrainian officials, were also expected to discuss the peace proposal on Monday on the sidelines of a summit in Angola between the European Union and the African Union.
It was unclear on Monday what points of the proposal had been adjusted during the talks in Switzerland. The most objectionable points for Ukraine had included requirements to cede territory, reduce the size of its military and rule out NATO membership.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to address the specifics of any revisions before he left Geneva on Sunday. While the American and Ukrainian delegations were upbeat about the talks, Mr. Rubio acknowledged that Russia “will have to agree to this.”
“Obviously the Russians get a vote here,” he said before boarding his plane to return to Washington.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has said that the peace plan could serve as “a foundation for a final peace agreement,” but he has said nothing publicly about the latest talks. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who has offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, said last week that he expected to speak to Mr. Putin on Monday.
The post U.S. and Ukraine Expected to Press on With Peace Plan Talks appeared first on New York Times.
