MARTIAL TREZZINI/EPA
The Ukrainian President’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak (left), and the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio (right), speak to the press during the continuation of consultations on Trump’s peace plan at the US Mission in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Updated and improved peace framework” in talks “constructive, focused and respectful” between the two countries this Sunday, in Geneva, after much criticism for the plan favoring the Russians. There is still no final agreement.
Washington and Kiev declared that, following the talks held in Geneva, “they developed a updated and improved peace framework”after reaffirming that “Any future agreement must fully respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
In a joint statement, released on Sunday by the White House, it is said that talks on the peace plan proposed by Washington to seal peace between Ukraine and Russia were “constructive, focused and respectful”in addition to being productive, as they “showed significant progress in harmonizing positions and identifying clear next steps”.
The Geneva dialogue reaffirmed “that any future agreement must fully respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and achieve a just and sustainable peace,” the two sides say.
“The Ukrainian delegation reaffirmed his gratitude for the strong commitment of the United States and personally of President Donald J. Trump for the tireless efforts to end the war and the loss of life,” the statement added.
The text insists that, as representatives of both countries stated on Sunday, the final approval of the new roadmap for peace in Ukraine depends on the presidents of both nations, who will continue to “work intensively on joint proposals in the coming days” and remain “in close contact with European partners as the process progresses”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a positive assessment of the Geneva meetings and stated, in more cautious language than in the joint statement, that the changes to the peace plan had been made in accordance with the Ukrainian position.
“It appears that American proposals may include a number of elements based on Ukrainian perspectives and essential to Ukraine’s national interests,” Ukraine’s leader wrote, thanking Europe and “the United States, all American hearts and, personally, President Trump for the help that has saved Ukrainian lives” — shortly after being dubbed by Donald Trump.
Many experts criticized the plan initially presented by Washington — to which Trump also associated an ultimatum, which expires on Thursday — and argued that Kiev should reduce its army, cede territory to Moscow and commit to never applying for NATO membership.
In turn, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, assured at the end of Sunday’s talks in Geneva that there are still outstanding points to review in the plan with Ukraine, but that “none of them are insurmountable” and that he is confident that an agreement will be reached.
A meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy is expected, possibly, this week at the White House. It remains to be seen, if the US and Ukraine reach an agreement, whether Russia will respect a plan that respects Ukrainian sovereignty.
The European Commission seeks to play an active role in the negotiations and has drawn up a alternative plan to that of the USA which seeks to ‘cut’ the points considered most favorable to Russia.
