The United States and Ukraine say they have achieved meaningful progress on a potential peace plan after a new round of talks in Geneva, signalling the strongest movement yet toward a negotiated framework to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
In a joint announcement on Sunday, both countries confirmed that their negotiating teams had developed an “updated and refined peace framework” and would continue intensive discussions in the coming days.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Geneva negotiations as “highly productive”, emphasising that the focus of the session was to narrow down outstanding disputes within the 28-point US-backed proposal.
He noted that while a “tremendous amount of progress” had been made, several unresolved issues still needed to be addressed before the plan could be submitted to Russia for consideration.
The leaked draft of the plan, which surfaced last week, received a mixed reaction. Russia responded cautiously, but many leaders in Kyiv and across Europe criticised the terms as overly favourable to Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky nonetheless said there were emerging “signals” that former US President Donald Trump’s team, which heavily influences the proposal, was increasingly receptive to Ukraine’s concerns.
Key elements of the leaked draft include highly controversial territorial concessions. Ukraine would be required to withdraw its troops from certain areas of Donetsk that it still controls, and the international community would formally acknowledge Russia’s de facto control of Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea.
The proposal also freezes the front lines in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, effectively turning current battle positions into long-term borders.
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Another major demand is a reduction of Ukraine’s active military to 600,000 personnel—down from an estimated 880,000—along with a commitment that Ukraine will not seek Nato membership. Instead, the proposal promises unspecified “reliable security guarantees”.
In exchange, Russia would be gradually reintegrated into the global economy, including through the lifting of sanctions and its return to the G7, making it the G8 again.
The talks occurred amid tense political messaging. Earlier on the same day, Trump accused Ukrainian leaders of showing “zero gratitude” for US efforts and criticised Europe for continuing to buy Russian oil, which finances Moscow’s war.
uMeanwhile, several European countries reportedly drafted their own peace plan, though Rubio denied knowledge of any alternative European framework.
According to Rubio, the next steps depend on further talks between the negotiators and final approval from both the US and Ukrainian presidents.
Despite remaining obstacles, he said he was “very optimistic” that a workable agreement could be reached soon, suggesting new progress could emerge as early as next week.
