Europe USA and Ukraine agree on revised peace plan
Progress has been made in the struggle for a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine: representatives of the USA and Ukraine have jointly prepared a revised and improved draft at talks in Geneva.
24.11.2025, 04:34
SDA
Both sides agreed to continue the intensive work on the proposal "in the coming days" and to continue to coordinate closely with their European partners, according to a joint statement issued in Kiev and Washington.
In Geneva, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke of "enormous progress". The outstanding points were "not insurmountable", he said - without giving details of the contentious issues. "I am firmly convinced that we will get there," said Rubio.
Final decisions on the new plan to end the Russian war of aggression, which has been going on for more than three and a half years, will be made by US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the joint statement added. The new draft has not yet been published. And as soon as there is a final plan that is approved by Kiev, Washington and the European partners, the biggest hurdle still has to be overcome: There can be no peace without the approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European and NATO issues to be discussed separately
Rubio assured the European partners that issues directly affecting Europe and NATO should be dealt with separately. He said that the opinions of the allies should be sought.
In Geneva on Sunday, negotiators from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, the EU, Ukraine and the United States discussed the US side's 28-point peace plan in various formats. The original plan was leaked by the US media last week and was seen by critics as extremely advantageous for Russia and almost a capitulation for Ukraine.
The publication triggered hectic diplomatic efforts, which also overshadowed the G20 summit in South Africa at the weekend. The aim of Kiev's European partners was to reach a draft that also adequately reflects the interests of Ukraine and Europe.
Tough deadline for Ukraine softened
Originally, Trump had only given Ukraine until this Thursday - the US Thanksgiving holiday - to respond to the peace plan. However, he recently appeared more conciliatory in this regard. Rubio also softened the deadline. Although he would like to see a deal by then, "whether it's Thursday, Friday, Wednesday or Monday next week" is of secondary importance. "We want it to happen soon," Rubio said.
According to the White House, Rubio was joined at the meeting in Geneva by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Secretary of State Daniel Driscoll. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Selenskyj's head of the chancellery Andrij Jermak.
Further consultations between Merz and EU colleagues
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and other European heads of state and government also wanted to discuss how to deal with the peace plan on the sidelines of an EU-Africa summit in Angola today. Leading EU states such as Germany and France considered central elements of the original 28-point plan to be unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again brought his country into play as a mediator and announced a telephone call with Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the conversation planned for today. Turkey has already been the venue for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the past.
Ukraine agrees to current peace plan according to the White House
According to a White House statement, Ukraine is said to be satisfied with the revised plan. On the basis of the revisions and clarifications presented, the Ukrainian representatives stated that the current draft reflects the country's interests and offers "short- and long-term, credible and enforceable mechanisms to protect Ukrainian security". Ukraine did not initially comment on this. In the joint statement published by the two countries shortly beforehand, the wording on the results of the talks in Geneva was more reserved.
The controversial original peace plan envisaged, for example, that Ukraine would cede previously defended territories to Russia, limit its military capabilities and declare that NATO would refrain from any expansion. Russia, on the other hand, would only have to make comparatively minor concessions, including giving up state assets frozen in the EU. This would be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Europeans want to weaken key points of the US-Ukraine plan
European proposals for amendments to the US plan envisaged a significant weakening of numerous key points in favor of Ukraine. According to the German Press Agency, for example, the government in Kiev should not have to hand over any territories to Russia that it still controls itself. Furthermore, no de facto recognition of the territories occupied by Russia is envisaged.
The proposals also envisage limiting the size of the Ukrainian armed forces to 800,000 soldiers instead of 600,000 and only releasing frozen Russian state assets if Russia makes compensation payments for war damage.
Joining NATO remains conceivable
In addition, Ukraine's accession to NATO should no longer be explicitly ruled out and no general amnesty for war crimes should be granted. The deadline for elections in Ukraine within 100 days mentioned in the US plan is also not mentioned in the European draft. Instead, they should only be organized as "quickly as possible".
However, as in the US plan, Russia is said to have been offered the prospect of a revival of the G8 group of major industrialized nations. The country was banned from this group in 2014 following the annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. The extent to which the proposed changes were heard during negotiations in Geneva initially remained unclear.
Dead and injured in Ukraine after new attacks
While possible paths to peace were being discussed elsewhere, several regions of Ukraine were on air alert again during the night. According to local authorities, at least four people were killed in massive drone attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. A further 15 people were injured, wrote Mayor Ihor Terekhov on Telegram. There were 15 attacks in six locations in the city.
