U.S. and Ukraine Report ”Meaningful Progress” in Geneva Peace Talks on Trump Plan
Geneva, Switzerland – Following hours of negotiations in geneva, both U.S. and Ukrainian officials signaled substantial progress toward a potential peace agreement based on a proposal put forward by former President Trump. While acknowledging significant work remains, negotiators described SundayS discussions as the most productive to date.
Speaking at the U.S. mission in Geneva, a U.S. official directly involved in the talks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, stated that negotiators had “substantially narrowed the list of open issues” in trump’s proposal. Rubio characterized the day as “probably the most productive day we have had on this issue, maybe in the entirety of our engagement,” while emphasizing that “work remains.” He added that the U.S. team briefed Trump on Sunday’s progress and that “he’s quite pleased at the reports we’ve given him about the amount of progress that’s been made.”
When questioned about Trump’s previously stated Thanksgiving deadline for a deal, Rubio indicated the primary goal is to reach an agreement “as soon as possible.” He also noted that aspects of the plan concerning Europe and NATO would be addressed separately “because it involves them.”
Ukrainian President volodymyr Zelensky,in a statement released after the talks,confirmed “thorough discussions” with U.S. officials. “A lot is changing: we are working very carefully. It is important that there is dialog with the American representatives, and there are signals that President Trump’s team is hearing us,” Zelensky saeid.
Both Rubio and Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy yermak, stressed that the ultimate decision-making authority rests with Trump and Zelensky.
However,the positive public statements followed a period of tension. Sources with knowledge of the talks revealed that a tense meeting Sunday morning occurred where the American side accused the Ukrainians of leaking negative details about the plan to the U.S. press. To address the concerns, the Ukrainians agreed to release a positive statement from one of their negotiators (available here).
Later in the day, the ukrainian delegation presented a counterproposal outlining requested changes to Trump’s plan. According to a source familiar with the discussions, the U.S. side indicated a willingness to consider some of these modifications.
The progress comes amidst public commentary from both leaders. As the talks were underway, President Trump posted on his truth Social account, criticizing Zelensky and accusing Ukrainian “leadership” of lacking gratitude for his efforts to end the war. Trump wrote,”I INHERITED A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED… UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS.” He also criticized European reliance on Russian oil and continued U.S. arms sales to NATO for distribution to Ukraine (the full post is available here).
Zelensky, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stated his delegation was focused on finding “doable solutions” to end the war, noting an understanding that the American proposals may incorporate Ukrainian perspectives and national interests (available here).
