Negotiators present in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss the 28-point plan supported by Russia and the United States to end the war in Ukraine said that progress had been made this Monday, the 24th, after parts of the proposal were dehydrated. Despite this, Moscow has not yet endorsed the changes, proposed after European countries and Kiev hastily met with American envoys.
The high-level discussions held in Geneva since Sunday have been an attempt to address the concerns of Ukraine and its European allies over a draft of the proposal, which many Ukrainians saw as overly favorable to Moscow.
President Volodmir Zelenski stated that Ukraine is at a “critical moment” and that he will soon define his next steps.
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The White House and the Ukrainian presidency released a joint statement overnight, stating that “significant progress” had been made toward “aligning positions.”
Also according to the statement, the conversations resulted in an “updated and refined” version of the agreement, and that “intense work” would continue in the coming days.
Amid official optimism, Oleksandr Bevz, an advisor to the President of Ukraine who participated in the negotiations in Geneva between American and Ukrainian officials, said that they managed to discuss almost all points of the plan, and one unresolved issue is that of territory, which can only be decided at the level of head of state.
According to him, the US demonstrated “great openness and understanding” that security guarantees are the cornerstone of any agreement for Ukraine. He stated that the US would continue working on the plan and that then the leaders of Ukraine and the US would meet. After that, the plan would be presented to Russia.
Bevz declined to say what concessions, if any, Ukraine made in the talks and added that “everyone arrived stressed.”
European officials, who say they were caught off guard by the American plan and that their own security is at risk, have pressed Washington for changes in the Geneva talks. “The negotiations represented a step forward, but there are still important issues to be resolved,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on social media.
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President Donald Trump — who is pressing Ukraine to agree to a deal plan by Thanksgiving but has indicated talks could continue if they go well — said “something good might be happening.” American officials have said they want to reach a deal with Ukraine that can be presented to Russia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Sunday that the unresolved issues in the peace proposal were not “insurmountable,” expressing optimism before leaving Geneva that an agreement could be reached soon.
Still, he acknowledged that Russia “will have to agree to this,” and it was unclear when negotiations would reach Moscow.
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The Kremlin said this Monday, the 24th, that it had not yet “officially” received any information about the outcome of the discussions in Geneva. Russia is open to contacts and negotiations, but “does not have concrete details about talks involving us,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters. He said Russia did not plan to hold talks with American officials this week.
*With international agencies.
