U.S. to hold talks in Geneva with Ukraine and EU countries on Trump's peace plan
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President Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Zelensky outside the White House ahead of their bilateral lunch. Photo: Win McNamee/ Getty Images
The U.S., Ukraine, Germany, France and the UK are expected to hold negotiations on Sunday in Geneva over the new U.S. peace plan, according to two U.S. officials and three European sources with knowledge.
Why it matters: Diplomacy over the plan has been unfolding at a fast pace since Axios revealed it on Tuesday. President Trump has set a Thanksgiving deadline for reaching an understanding with Ukraine on the plan.
Driving the news: Vice President Vance held an hour-long phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky on Friday to discuss the plan. They agreed to hold in-person negotiations between the U.S., Ukraine and European countries during the weekend.
- The U.S. team is expected to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and include White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who met Zelensky on Thursday in Kyiv and presented him with the U.S. plan, a U.S. official and a source with knowledge said.
What they're saying: "We're continuing to work with the Ukrainians to make this the best deal for them. We can't speak to ... their position, but the deal has — and always has been — a collaboration between the U.S., Ukrainians and the Russians," the U.S. official said.
- The U.S. official added that the details of the agreement may change from the original version of the U.S. peace plan. "That's why we're having talks. That's literally the definition of a negotiation," the official said.
- A second U.S. official said: "The talks in Geneva show how much the Trump administration is engaging with all parties on the peace plan for Ukraine and the doubters claiming otherwise are flat out wrong."
State of play: Zelensky appointed his chief of staff Andriy Yermak to lead the negotiations team. Zelensky's adviser Rustem Umerov, who negotiated the plan last weekend with Trump's advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, is also part of the Ukrainian delegation.
- On Saturday, Zelensky held several calls with European leaders and briefed them on the Ukrainian position on the plan.
- "All European leaders are shocked but supportive," a Ukrainian official said after the call.
- The national security advisers of Germany, France, Italy and the UK are also expected to participate in the talks.
Catch up quick: Trump's 28-point plan for peace in Ukraine would force Kyiv to give up additional territory in the east, agree it will never join NATO and accept full amnesty for Russians who committed alleged war crimes.
- On the other hand, the plan includes an unprecedented security guarantee from the U.S. and Europe modeled on NATO's Article 5, which would commit the U.S. and European allies to treat an attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire "transatlantic community."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with an additional statement and changes throughout.
