The US president has hinted at movement in talks after a meeting between Washington’s and Kiev’s delegations in Geneva
US President Donald Trump has expressed cautious optimism about the result of talks in Geneva on the American peace plan to end the Ukraine conflict, saying that “something good” may be happening.
Washington presented Kiev with the proposal last week, giving it until Thursday to respond. Ukrainian and US delegations then met with key European NATO backers in Geneva on Sunday, after which the White House said in a statement that an “updated and refined peace framework” had been drafted, with final decisions on it to be made by Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.
”Is it really possible that big progress is being made in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine? Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier said the US and Ukraine had made a “tremendous amount of progress” on the framework, while stressing that Russian agreement is essential for any deal to hold.
While the original 28-point plan has not been made public, multiple outlets have reported that it includes clauses which Kiev and its European sponsors previously rejected, such as de facto recognition of Russian control over Crimea and Donbass, Ukraine abandoning its ambitions to join NATO, and downsizing its military.
According to Reuters, Ukraine’s European backers submitted a modified version of the proposal that pushes back on limits to Kiev’s armed forces and on territorial concessions.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia had not received any official information about the outcome of the Geneva talks or any revised proposal and declined to comment on media reports.
Moscow confirmed earlier that it had received Washington’s draft, with President Vladimir Putin noting on Friday that “it could form the basis of a final peace settlement.”
