Ukraine and its allies welcomed progress Monday after high-stakes talks with the United States over the plan to end Russia’s war that Washington has pressured Kyiv to endorse by Thanksgiving.
Meetings in Geneva produced an “updated and refined peace framework,” Ukraine and the U.S. said in a joint statement that described “meaningful progress” from the “highly productive” talks.
There were no specific details released. European leaders expressed optimism but cautioned that “major issues” remained as Kyiv and its allies sought to navigate the U.S. ultimatum to accept the 28-point proposal they view as handing the Kremlin its key demands.
Moscow continued to suggest it had been shut out of the discussions, and it was unclear whether any counterproposals from Ukraine would be acceptable to Russia.
President Donald Trump also weighed in. “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,” he said in a post on Truth Social early Monday.
The Ukrainian delegation was on its way home to report back on the progress made, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “Based on these reports, we will determine the next steps and the timing,” he added.
Speaking earlier by video link at a summit in Sweden, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was working with partners “to look for compromises that strengthen, but not weaken us.”
He had warned Friday that his country faced perhaps its most difficult week yet, confronting the choice between its “dignity” and a “key partner.”
Trump injected greater tension as talks took place in Switzerland, accusing Kyiv of expressing “zero gratitude” to the U.S. for its support throughout the conflict.
Yet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that “a tremendous amount of progress” had been made after the talks with Ukraine.
Zelenskyy, attempting the balancing act of appeasing Trump and ensuring his nation’s sovereignty while under fire at home for a corruption scandal, said that “Ukraine was grateful to the United States, to every American heart, and to President Trump personally.”
In a separate statement, Zelenskyy said there were “signals President Trump’s team is hearing us.”
Asked about the pressure on Ukraine to at least agree to a framework by Thanksgiving, Rubio said the U.S. wants to “get this done” as soon as possible. “Obviously, we’d love it to be Thursday,” he added.
But, while there were signs of progress, Europe remained wary as America’s traditional allies scrambled to respond to the sudden emergence of a deal that could define the continent’s security.
“The negotiations were a step forward, but there are still major issues which remain to be resolved,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a post on X.
European Union leaders met to discuss the issue at a summit already taking place in Angola on Monday, as a counterproposal from major European powers circulated in the media.
“While work remains to be done, there is now a solid basis for moving forward,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement following the meeting.
A German government spokesperson said Berlin saw the progress made in Geneva “very positively,” according to Reuters.
The plan backed by Trump amounts to Ukraine’s effective capitulation, ceding key territories to Russia while reducing its military in return for no major concessions from Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants legal recognition for what he has “stolen,” Zelenskyy said Monday in reference to the plan’s provision for the entire eastern Donbas region, as well as Crimea, annexed in 2014, to be de facto recognized as Russian. “To break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty, and that’s the main problem,” he added.
U.S. allies and lawmakers have raised questions over who may have been behind the plan and how much Ukraine was consulted.
Rubio insisted Sunday that the plan was authored by the U.S. after a bipartisan group of senators said he had told them that the text being discussed was a Russian initiative given to special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Moscow has maintained it has not officially been looped in to talks.
During a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday, Putin said the plan, “in the version we have reviewed,” is consistent with discussions at his summer summit with Trump in Alaska, “and, in principle, could form the basis for a final peace settlement,” according to a Kremlin readout.
Still, it’s unclear if the Kremlin would agree to any modifications that would be necessary to get Ukraine and Europe to sign on.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that it has not been updated on the progress of talks between Ukraine and the U.S. “We have, of course, been closely monitoring media reports that have been pouring in over the past few days, including from Geneva. But we haven’t received anything official yet,” he said.
There were no plans for a meeting between Russian and American delegations this week, he added.
