Ukraine and allies meet in Geneva on US peace plan

 

According to Ukrainian officials, negotiations on a U.S.-proposed peace plan to halt Russia's invasion between Ukraine and its Western allies began in Geneva on Sunday.

Presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, posted on social media that they met for the first time with national security experts from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. In an effort to change the plan, which is perceived as favouring Moscow, the allies have united behind Kyiv.

It was anticipated that President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would attend the negotiations. "The U.S. delegation is scheduled to meet next.

We're in a pretty positive frame of mind," Yermak remarked. "We continue working together to achieve a lasting and just peace for Ukraine." Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, stated that he was awaiting the results of the negotiations. "A positive result is needed for all of us," he stated.

"Teams from Ukraine, the United States, and our European allies are in close communication, and I sincerely hope that a resolution will be reached.

In a post on Telegram on Sunday, he stated that "bloodshed must be stopped and it must be guaranteed that the war will not be reignited." Territorial concessions have been rejected by Ukraine and its allies.

The United States 28 point plan to end the nearly four year conflict has alarmed governments in Europe and Kyiv. Zelenskyy has stated that his nation may have to choose between maintaining the necessary American assistance and defending its national rights.

The plan gives in to a number of Russian demands, including the ceding of substantial portions of territory, that Zelenskyy has emphatically refused on numerous occasions. The leader of Ukraine has promised that his people "will always defend" their country.

The plan's limitations on the Ukrainian army, which she called "a limitation on its sovereignty," would be a major topic of debate, according to Alice Rufo, France's minister delegate at the Defense Ministry, who spoke to channel France Info prior to Sunday's meeting.

"Ukraine must be able to defend itself," she stated. "Russia wants war and waged war many times in fact over the past years." Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday that the U.S. proposal was not his "final offer."

"I want to find tranquility. It ought to have occurred long ago. Trump stated that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine should never have occurred. "One way or the other, we have to get it ended."

A request for clarification was not answered by the White House, and Trump did not clarify what he meant when he said that the plan was not his final offer. Confusion arises from Rubio's reported remarks, Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, stated on Sunday that Warsaw was prepared to collaborate with the leaders of Europe, Canada, and Japan on the proposal, but he added that it "would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created." Rubio had referred to the plan as a Russian "wish list" rather than a Washington led initiative, according to some U.S. lawmakers on Saturday.

At a press conference, the bipartisan group of senators stated that they had discussed the peace plan with Rubio after he contacted some of them while traveling to Geneva.

According to independent senator Angus King of Maine, Rubio informed them that the plan "was not the administration's plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians."

Their story was refuted by a State Department representative, who described it as "blatantly false." Even though the senators claimed to have had the material from him, Rubio himself went so far as to insinuate online that they were in error.

The secretary of state reiterated that Washington was to blame for a program that had shocked many from the start since it was so pro Moscow.