The Kremlin rejects the European counter-proposal for a peace plan in Ukraine, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reports, BTA reports.
The plan is "completely unconstructive" and does not work for Moscow, said foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov. On the other hand, the Russian government defines the initial US proposal as a possible basis for resolving the conflict. Many of the provisions of this plan are "completely acceptable", Ushakov said. According to one of the drafts, the European plan changes crucial points regarding issues of NATO and territorial integrity, the newspaper also notes.
Ushakov said that the points proposed by Trump should be considered in detail. Many of them, but not all, are acceptable to Russia. So far, no one has spoken to Russia on this issue. However, in preparing this American plan, many of Moscow's demands seem to have been taken into account. It has been criticized internationally because it demands more concessions from Ukraine than from Russia.
"Financial Times", for its part, reported that US Secretary of the Ground Forces Dan Driscoll arrived in Abu Dhabi yesterday for talks with the head of Ukraine's military intelligence and a Russian delegation. Driscoll and the Russians began talks yesterday evening, according to a US official and two other people familiar with the meeting. The discussions are expected to continue today. The composition of the Russian delegation is not yet known. However, according to the sources, Driscoll is expected to meet with Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. The meeting in Abu Dhabi follows progress made over the weekend in talks between Ukrainian and US delegations in Geneva, the Financial Times added.
Obviously Ukraine knows what’s going on, Kiev knew where Driscoll was going after Geneva, a US official said. He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff had taken “different paths to continue their work. The good thing about bringing Dan Driscoll into this process is that he’s contributing to what’s been achieved so he can continue the talks.” "As Secretary of State Rubio said yesterday, we’re going to continue to work on this issue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with all our might, trying to move as quickly and aggressively as possible.“
"Financial Times" notes that it remains unclear whether representatives of the United States, Ukraine and Russia will meet together in Abu Dhabi or talk separately.
Amid the negotiations on the US plan to end the war, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has again outlined "red lines" and ruled out compromises on several issues, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported: "No recognition of the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories. No restrictions on Ukraine's defense forces. No veto on Ukraine's right to choose future alliances.
According to Stefanchuk, the "real peace process" must be based on a very clear principle: "Nothing for Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing for Europe without Europe." A "real peace plan" would envisage strengthening the Ukrainian and European defense industries and strengthening air defense to protect Ukrainian infrastructure. The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament called for security guarantees for his country and tougher sanctions against Russia. According to Stefanchuk, these security guarantees include Ukraine's accession to the European Union and the Western military alliance NATO, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" adds.
US President Donald Trump strongly wants a peace agreement in Ukraine. Kiev wants peace even more, but not at any price, the BBC points out.
That is why when the US began to insist that Ukraine agree to a deal by Thanksgiving that seemed close to surrender terms, Kiev resisted.
This attracted senior officials to the Geneva talks and throughout the day on Sunday, delegates from the US and Ukraine could be seen moving back and forth between the two main venues in black limousines with tinted windows, the BBC notes.
The media added that they were joined by national security advisers from Germany, France and the United Kingdom. It also states that the only time Andrei Ermak, the head of Kiev's negotiating team, was seen, he was stony-faced.
This is no surprise, given that the initial proposal on the table was so skewed in favor of Russian demands that the talks began with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio being forced to deny that it was written by the Kremlin.
But Donald Trump was adamant that Ukraine must join quickly or face unspecified consequences. So Kiev had to commit, the BBC points out.
On Sunday evening, Marco Rubio said that "tremendous progress" had been made in the talks, with only "a few things" remaining. When pressed, he did not give further details, calling the situation "delicate."
But a joint statement from Ukraine and the US said that an entirely new deal was now in place, called an "updated and revised framework document."
We have not seen that yet. The Financial Times, however, quoted one of the delegates - Ukraine's deputy foreign minister Serhiy Kyslytsia - as talking about a new 19-point plan in which "very little is left" from the original draft.
In this version, the automatic veto on Ukraine's future membership in NATO is dropped, as is the cap on the number of troops in the country's armed forces.
It says that no Western troops will be permanently stationed in Ukraine, but this is not a complete ban.
On the sensitive issue of territory - land that Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting and dying to defend for 11 years - there will be no free handover of the rest of Donbas to Russia, and Ukraine will seek to regain the occupied territories exclusively through diplomatic means. This is something that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously agreed to, the BBC notes. But most importantly, security guarantees are mentioned, the media outlet adds.
Several officials, including British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have spoken of Ukraine receiving Article 5 protection, meaning the US would be obliged to defend it if Russia ever invades again.
Ukraine has significantly revised the US "peace plan" to end the conflict, removing some of Russia's maximalist demands, people familiar with the talks said, after European leaders warned on Monday that a quick deal could not be reached, the "Guardian" noted. The newspaper adds that Volodymyr Zelensky could meet Donald Trump at the White House later this week, sources said, amid a series of phone calls between Kiev and Washington. Ukraine urges Europe to join talks.
The United States and Ukraine have significantly revised a controversial 28-point plan to end the war after tense meetings in Geneva that brought the two sides closer to an agreement after the White House insisted that Kiev sign the plan by Thanksgiving, the Washington Post reported.
The changes that two Ukrainian officials said were much more acceptable to their country could be more unacceptable to Russia - a paradox that has long led to an impasse over ending the war, the publication added.
V. The New York Times reports that the price of changes to the peace plan for Ukraine, made during a series of meetings lasting 11 hours in Geneva led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is clear. Some Trump administration officials predict that Vladimir Putin will likely reject the new project outright, which would lead to protracted negotiations - exactly what Donald Trump was trying to prevent.