Peace treaty with Ukraine legally impossible at the moment – Putin: As it happened

27 November 2025

The Atlantic’s Simon Shuster reports that calls have intensified for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to dismiss his chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, amid an ongoing corruption scandal.

“Zelensky needs to clean house, and he should start with Yermak,” Shuster quoted a senior European diplomat as saying.

Although the investigation into an alleged large-scale kickback scheme has not directly implicated Yermak, Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies have charged Zelensky’s close associate Timur Mindich with arranging embezzlement in the embattled energy sector.

Yermak told Shuster that he supports “an objective and independent investigation without political influence.”

Axios has reported that US President Donald Trump directed Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll to “take an honest assessment” of Ukraine’s battlefield situation during his trip to Kiev on November 20.

It was reported earlier that Driscoll warned Ukrainian officials that the country’s army would suffer defeat against Russian troops. He also reportedly warned Kiev’s European backers that Russia was stockpiling missiles while Ukraine’s own arsenal was dwindling.

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has said he will take part in “important negotiations next week,” but stopped short of revealing whom he will be meeting.

There had earlier been speculation about a possible meeting between Zelensky and Trump this week.

The US president, however, has said he will receive Zelensky only once the peace deal is “in its final stages.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas reportedly сlashed with several MEPs over the controversial plan to use frozen Russian sovereign assets as collateral for a loan for Ukraine, Euractiv has reported, citing people present at a closed-door meeting.

She reportedly denigrated official Belgian concerns to the point that lawmakers described her tone as “very condescending” and “incredible”. “She [Kallas] wondered why Belgium was so worried. Which court was Russia going to go to? Which judge would ever rule for Russia on this?” the outlet’s source said.

Belgium – which hosts most of the frozen Russian funds – has for weeks been opposed to the scheme, demanding that all EU members should share the legal risks.

Putin added that under the current conditions, the Ukrainian leadership “could hardly hope for a victory unless the election is rigged.”

It is “pointless” to sign any documents with the Ukrainian leadership, Putin has said. “I think the Ukrainian leadership made a strategic mistake when they declined to hold a presidential election, after which the president lost his legitimacy.”

Some Western experts who recognize the desperate condition of Ukraine’s forces are urging Kiev to make concessions out of concern that the front could otherwise collapse entirely, the Russian president said.

The Russian military has broken Ukrainian defenses in the northern part of Zaporozhye Region and is quickly advancing, Putin has said, adding that this success allows Ukrainian fortifications to the south to be bypassed.

Putin has dismissed media reports about Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “falling out of grace,” saying the official is running his own schedule, which now revolves around preparing for engagement with the US.

Putin has warned that any EU decision to seize frozen Russian assets would damage the bloc’s reputation, adding that Moscow is already preparing a package of retaliatory measures should the move go ahead.

Putin has said he has had productive engagement with Witkoff, and that the two “had an understanding on what should be done to cease the hostilities.” However, he stressed that it would be bizarre to accuse Witkoff of “treating his counterparts too courteously,” given that amid the ongoing talks, the US sanctioned two Russian oil giants.

Witkoff, he argued, is seeking to pursue diplomacy with Moscow, and it would be strange if he started using obscene language and scolding Russian officials.

Speaking about the frontline situation, Putin remarked that Ukraine’s main problem is the growing gap between its losses and replacements.

According to the Russian president, Kiev lost 47,000 troops in October, but mobilized only around 16,500, with around 15,000 injured in action returning to the front. The situation for Kiev is also only worsening due to rampant desertion, he added.

Russia will cease hostilities once the Ukrainian troops leave the areas they now occupy, Putin said, adding: “And if they don’t, we will make them.” He also noted that Russian troops are increasing the pace of their advance across the entire front line.

Asked whether Russia would be ready to rejoin the Western-dominated G7, Putin replied that he has a hard time imagining how Moscow would interact with its members in the current geopolitical landscape. Still, he did not rule out future contacts if the Ukraine peace process yields results.

According to Putin, the talks in Abu Dhabi were “unexpectedly” attended by a senior US official, who asked the Russian delegation whether the negotiations could be continued already this week in Moscow. According to Putin, while Russia was open to the idea, the Trump administration opted to schedule it for next week.

Asked about reported negotiations in Abu Dhabi, Putin has confirmed contacts between Russian and Ukrainian intelligence officials, noting that they are no secret. He said contacts are maintained “even in the hardest of times,” adding that officials are in talks over humanitarian issues and prisoner exchanges.

Putin also says Russia is ready to discuss European security, describing the issue as extremely serious and deserving in-depth consultation.

Some conditions should be put in the language of diplomacy, Putin has said. He noted that Moscow would not be opposed to providing the West with a written guarantee that “Russia has no plans to attack Europe” – calling such a suggestion “ridiculous.”

There is no final version of the peace plan, given that some conditions “are of fundamental nature,” Putin said, adding that Moscow sees that the US, in some respects, heeds the Russian stance.

Speaking at a security conference in Kyrgyzstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the initial US-drafted 28-point peace proposal emerged based on the results of the Alaska summit with Trump. According to the Russian leader, the plan hinged not on a draft of a treaty, but rather on a list on questions for discussion.

After US and Ukrainian officials held talks in Geneva, they decided to split the proposals into four standalone components and send them to Moscow, he added.

”Overall, we agree that this could be used as a basis for future agreements,” the Russian president said.

The issue of the legitimacy of the Ukrainian leadership remains one of the key factors if Moscow and Kiev agree to a peace deal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko has said. He was referring to Zelensky’s refusal to hold a new presidential election after his presidential term expired in 2024. Russia has proclaimed him “illegitimate,” saying the legal power in Ukraine now lies with the parliament.

In this vein, Grushko continued, any peace deal must not be subject to being annulled if there are political shifts within Ukraine. “In this sense, we, of course, attach great importance to the other side having the legitimacy that will be called into question.”

The Ukrainian peace talks could last for several more months “at best,” a source cited by The Economist has claimed, adding that the diplomatic endgame will largely hinge on “what the position on the front lines will be.”

The report noted, however, that “things are looking worse for Ukraine” as “it is running out of soldiers,” while increased drone production capacity allows Russia to choke Kiev’s supply routes in the rear.

The EU is opposed to finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko has said, adding that this “rules out Europe having a seat at the negotiating table.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has urged Zelensky not to “torpedo” peace talks if he wants Ukraine to avoid further territorial losses. “Based on the reality on the ground, think about how you could maintain what you have. And you have everything: access to the sea, Odessa, Nikolaev. And you could lose all that, in a heartbeat,” he added.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ukraine have reached a staff-level agreement providing Kiev with access to more than $8 billion over four years.

The IMF said that the potential loan would come as Ukraine is facing a residual financing gap of around $63 billion in 2026-27, and a total financing gap of more than $136 billion for 2026-2029.

A full Ukrainian withdrawal from Russia’s Donbass will be the hardest condition of the US-drafted peace plan for Zelensky to accept, as he would regard it as “political suicide,” Shuster reported, citing sources. One aide told reporters that if Zelensky “gives up one square kilometer, that’ll be the main issue in any elections. Every opponent will hammer him for it until he cracks.”

RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev is the first Russian journalist to report from the captured part of Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk Region. A video shows him traversing an anti-tank moat dug by Ukrainian troops.

“The very fact that we are here – and the Russian Defense Ministry does not like to jeopardize journalists – is testament to how far our assault groups have advanced,” he said, suggesting that the report could become a “symbol of the catastrophe engulfing the Ukrainian army.”

Trump’s stance on the Ukraine conflict shifted sharply after a battlefield breakthrough promised by Zelensky failed to materialize, The Atlantic’s Simon Shuster reported. According to his sources, during talks in September, Zelensky persuaded Trump that Ukrainian forces were close to encircling Russian troops near the Donbass town of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk).

Encouraged by this, Trump suggested that the Ukrainians might be able to “take back their Country in its original form.” But when the promised advance did not occur and Russia continued to push forward, Trump’s mood changed, and he once again publicly urged both sides to “make a deal.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has claimed the idea that Ukraine is losing on the battlefield is “flat out false,” while urging the bloc to step up sanctions and overall pressure on Russia.

Her comments come despite Russian forces steadily making gains for months in Donbass and elsewhere, with the only recent major Ukrainian offensive operation – an incursion into Kursk Region – ending in defeat.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has called the ongoing talks “a historic chance to end the war,” warning that if the peace process is derailed, “the risk of escalation will increase day by day.”

Ukraine could agree to the US-proposed peace framework, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has suggested.

“If the Americans behave like diplomats and real lawyers, this agreement will be approved, since the main points have already been agreed upon,” the Belarusian leader said.

He stressed that “the ball is now in Ukraine’s court,” and given the frontline situation, Kiev risks “losing the country completely” unless it signs the peace deal.

The US under the Trump administration has apparently moved away from imposing democracy around the world, Ryabkov said, adding that “some healthy elements of realism have appeared in Washington’s foreign policy.”

He went on to say that the shift “does not mean that the US has abandoned its anti-Russian course, but the Americans are now open to a direct and frank dialogue, and in practical terms are more inclined to work toward their national interests as they understand them.”

Russia and the US maintain “episodic” contact on potential prisoner exchanges, but the issue is not a top priority right now, Ryabkov said.

“As of today, as I understand it, there is nothing that we are especially focused on. It is simply one of the topics in the dialogue.”

There are no changes in plans regarding Witkoff’s upcoming visit to Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said, adding that Moscow has so far not been briefed on the results of the US-Ukraine talks in Geneva, and that there is no clarity regarding “the role of the destructive forces grouped around the EU” which he said are seeking to “disrupt further progress.”

“Whatever he [Witkoff] brings, that is what we will work with,” Ryabkov said.

Britain is “very badly off financially” and has “almost no money of its own,” Andrey Kelin, Moscow’s ambassador to London, has said.

“That is where all these discussions come from: ‘Let’s take the sovereign assets of the Russian Federation,’” he added, referring to Western debates on using Russian funds frozen in the EU as collateral for a loan for Ukraine.

Kelin said that although London continues “to swagger,” Ukraine’s financing will depend on the US, stating that if Washington “does not provide serious assistance… then there is really no one to rely on.”

Moscow has said any plan to use its frozen assets to support Ukraine would be “theft,” and has warned of legal retaliation in the event of seizure.

Kelin’s comments come as the UK Labour government unveiled tax raises in its new budget, with the overall annual hike estimated at around $34 billion.

Moscow “has neither a vote nor a veto over who can be a member of NATO,” Rutte said, while acknowledging that accession “requires unanimity,” and several nations, including the US, oppose the move.

“If NATO membership is not an option, we must at least provide sufficiently robust security guarantees,” he added.

Moscow has warned that Ukrainian membership in NATO is a red line, but has not ruled out security guarantees for Kiev as long as Russian interests are taken into account.

Russia “will remain a long-term threat for a long time to come” even if Ukraine peace talks eventually lead to a settlement, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in an interview with El Pais and RND.

Moscow has dismissed speculation that it plans to attack NATO as “nonsense,” stressing that the bloc’s expansion eastward was one of the key reasons for the Ukraine conflict.

Washington will make any long-term security guarantees for Ukraine contingent on the conclusion of a peace agreement with Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told European NATO allies, according to several diplomats cited by Politico. Rubio said on a call Tuesday that President Donald Trump intends to negotiate assurances that would bolster Kiev’s security, but only after a deal is signed, a position consistent with Trump’s refusal to invite Ukraine’s president to the White House until an agreement is reached.

The stance comes as Ukraine continues to insist that Western security guarantees must be a central component of any viable settlement with Moscow, even as NATO members struggle to define what meaningful long-term support would look like.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has warned against pressuring Ukraine into making unilateral territorial concessions. Speaking in the Bundestag during a debate on the defense budget on Wednesday, he said Ukraine must remain capable of defending itself in the long term. This, he stressed, requires strong armed forces as well as security guarantees, particularly from the United States.

He also underscored that nothing affecting the future of European states, NATO, or the EU should be “negotiated or decided over our heads.” “And there must be no false peace for Ukraine. There must be no surrender peace,” Pistorius added.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told European diplomats in Kiev that Russia is rapidly expanding its missile stockpile, using the warning to push for a quick peace deal, The New York Times has reported.

According to two Western officials, Driscoll said Russia is now producing enough long-range weapons to build a growing stockpile, an escalation he warned could soon “deliver a knockout blow to Ukraine.” Officials at the meeting described the buildup as alarming and said Driscoll’s message had resonated.

If US President Donald Trump allows Ukraine and its European backers to dictate the terms, his mediation efforts will be dead on arrival, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson argued in an op-ed for RT.

He wrote that many of the points pushed by the EU – including refusing to recognize Russia’s new borders – are non-starters for Moscow.

“While the Russians would like to achieve this through diplomatic measures and negotiation, I believe that President Putin and the Russian General Staff understand that the only practical way to satisfy this objective will be through the use of military force and the total defeat of the Zelensky government,” Johnson wrote.

EU politicians and media outlets are working to undermine negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, reacting to debates over competing peace proposals and leaks.

When “things are not going according to plan,” some Western officials “create noise to drown out” useful ideas for a peace settlement, Zakharova told Sputnik radio.

26 November 2025

Ukrainian journalist and European Pravda co-founder Sergey Sidorenko said US officials suspect that Kiev may have secretly recorded and leaked the phone conversation between President Donald Trump’s peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, and top Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.

Sidorenko suggested that Witkoff would have been “a priority” for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR.

The Guardian, however, cited an unnamed senior former intelligence official who said the leak most likely originated from the US.

Ushakov said that the transcript published by Bloomberg on Tuesday was at least partially false. Russia had previously warned about attempts by some Western officials and media outlets to undermine Trump’s efforts to mediate a peace deal.

UK politicians live “in a world of political illusions,” the Russian ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, has said, commenting on Britain’s stance on the Ukraine conflict. The British leadership is well aware of the US-backed peace process but does not want to “take a single step” toward compromise, he told the broadcaster Russia 1.

London is clinging to its old tactic of pressure, the diplomat said, adding that the British media is misrepresenting the situation both on the frontlines and in the Russian economy to create an illusion that the Western sanctions are working.

“You will never see here what is actually happening,” Kelin said. “There is a lack of understanding of the strategic situation, of where it is heading,” the ambassador stated.

The EU will remain “on the sidelines of history” as long as it does not recognize the need for dialogue with Moscow, Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Russian State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has said. The “Brussels bureaucrats” have only themselves to blame for the fact that they are not invited to take part in resolving the Ukraine conflict, he wrote on Telegram.

“It is because of people like Kallas, Baerbock, von der Leyen, Borrell, and the rest of Biden’s lackeys in the EU that [the bloc] is not at the negotiating table to look for a way out of the biggest security crisis on the continent, but has been thrown onto the sidelines of history,” the lawmaker said. “And it will remain there until it recognizes the realities and the need for constructive dialogue with Russia.”

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has demanded a cap on the size of the Russian Armed Forces and on the country’s defense budget. Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, she also claimed that any potential peace negotiations should focus on “the concessions that Russia will make.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned in August that the EU’s own militarization had become “uncontrollable.” The bloc plans to spend €800 billion ($928 billion) as part of its ReArm Europe plan. NATO also made its members pledge this summer to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

In June, President Vladimir Putin said that the nation was spending around $170 billion or 6.3% of its GDP on defense and called it “a lot.” He also said that Moscow plans to reduce defense spending in the future, unlike the EU.

The EU’s “hysterical” reaction to the US-drafted peace plan could be caused by it potentially dismantling the “insecurity architecture” built by Brussels in Western Europe, geopolitical analyst and author, Alex Krainer, has told RT’s CrossTalk show.

The analyst then cited an alleged part of the plan, which was earlier reported by the media, where Russia, Ukraine, and the EU are expected to reach a comprehensive non-aggression agreement. The move would make the EU’s claims about the alleged Russian threat irrelevant, according to Krainer.

“The whole reason for an escalation between Europe and Russia falls flat on its face,” he said.

Leaking alleged conversations between Witkoff and a Russian presidential aide, Yury Ushakov, has been aimed at derailing the peace process centered around the US-drafted plan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. “There is nothing more important than that right now on this track and there surely will be many people, who would stop at nothing to disrupt the process,” he said.

According to Peskov, the leaks themselves do not contain anything of note and their destructive impact has been exaggerated.

Russia expects US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to visit Moscow next week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. The visit would involve “extensive contacts” between him and President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin.

Russia is ready to exercise “due patience” in the Ukraine peace process, despite “harmful initiatives” adopted in the US, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said. The senior diplomat in particular cited recent US sanctions against Russian oil giants and continued military assistance to Kiev, which is now mostly paid for by EU nations.

“We understand that things are not simple, including from the perspective of the US domestic agenda,” Ryabkov said. The diplomat voiced hope that the results of the Alaska summit could still serve as a springboard for a comprehensive diplomatic settlement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised to help cover Ukraine’s financial needs between 2026 and 2027, including by using frozen Russian assets. “The commission is now ready to present a legal text,” she announced.

Von der Leyen said she “cannot see any scenario in which European taxpayers alone will pay the bill.” The official also said the plan would have to “respect European and international law.”

Her comments come despite many EU policymakers warning that plans to tap frozen Russian assets through a loan scheme could carry major legal risks. Particular opposition has come from Belgium-based clearing house Euroclear, which hosts most of the immobilized funds.

At the same time, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has called on the EU to agree on using Russian assets as soon as possible to “get the ticket” to the Ukraine peace talks.

Russia has described any plan to use its assets as “theft,” and has vowed legal action and reciprocal measures.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has proposed Minsk as a possible venue for future Ukraine peace talks, while speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on a state visit to the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

The Belarusian capital hosted the talks on the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements, which were intended to grant the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within Ukraine.

Moscow later accused Kiev of failing to implement the accords, and former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since said the agreements were used to buy time to “create powerful armed forces.”

Belarus also hosted direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks in 2022, shortly after the escalation of the conflict.

Ukraine will not agree to recognize any of its territorial losses and will not make any changes to its constitution to pave the way for such a move, Aleksandr Bevz, an adviser to the head of Zelensky’s office, has said.

“These are the red lines defined by the Ukrainian people. There is nothing to discuss here from the Ukrainian point of view,” he added.

Ukraine’s future is in the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has claimed, adding that Kiev’s membership is a “core and essential part of any security guarantee framework.”

Despite the ongoing peace talks, she accused Russia of showing “no signs of true willingness to end this conflict,” stressing that the EU must “keep up the pressure” on Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier said that the EU had had its chance to take part in the Ukraine talks, but did not use it.

Key takeaways from Ushakov’s comments on Ukraine peace talks

• Russia and the US did not discuss the US-drafted peace plan during the Abu Dhabi talks
• Russia has not received an official copy of the plan, but has seen several unofficial versions of the roadmap
• The EU is interfering in the Ukraine peace process
• The US peace plan will be discussed during Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow

Asked by RT whether Ushakov thought the Ukraine conflict could end this year, he replied: “I’d love it to do so.”

A lot of people in foreign countries, including the US, would be happy to derail the Ukraine peace talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. His comments followed Western media leaks purporting to show transcripts of talks between Russian and US negotiators.

Watch FULL INTERVIEW with Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov on US peace plan for Ukraine and Abu Dhabi talks

Russia and the US will discuss the American-drafted peace plan during US envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow, where he will likely meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov has said.

Russia and the US have not discussed the American-drafted peace plan in Abu Dhabi, Ushakov said. He added that Russia had received several unofficial versions of the document, but “there really hasn’t been any serious analysis, serious discussion,” noting that while “some points can be viewed positively,” many others “require a special discussion among experts.”

In an apparent reference to reports about US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll holding talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, Ushakov said the American official’s presence there had been “a surprise.”

The official “had a meeting, as I understand, with Ukrainian representatives. That was probably arranged in advance. And he also met with our representatives, completely unexpectedly,” Ushakov explained.

Russian and Ukrainian officials, including members of the security services, are carrying out “serious work” in periodic meetings in the Middle East, where they “discuss quite sensitive matters, including prisoner exchanges,” Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov has said.

Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, appeared visibly frustrated after US President Donald Trump said he would only meet the Ukrainian leader once the peace framework was “final or in its final stages,” the New York Post has reported. The Post said Trump’s message was published while Yermak was speaking to the outlet.

“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelensky and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” Trump wrote.

According to the outlet, “Yermak’s face dropped, apparently gutted by the news,” and he declined to comment, saying he needed time to assess the situation.

In recent weeks, several media outlets and Ukrainian lawmakers have suggested that Yermak was involved in a corruption scheme in the energy sector, but Zelensky has so far resisted calls to remove his influential chief of staff.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has dismissed an NBC report claiming that he and Vice President J.D. Vance are at odds over Ukraine peace efforts.

”This story is just the latest example of a long-running series of 100% fake news reports… These people don’t just get things wrong, they literally make things up,” he wrote on X.

Vance reposted Rubio’s message, adding: “The media is lying in order to derail the president's agenda. It’s really that simple.”

Kiev is still reluctant to agree to the key peace terms sought by the Trump administration, a senior Ukrainian source has told CNN. This comes despite both sides reportedly suggesting that a consensus has been reached on most elements of the leaked 28-point US proposal.

According to the source, at least three major issues are still unresolved: Whether Ukraine will give up its remaining positions in the Russian regions in Donbass; the US proposal to cap Ukraine’s armed forces at 600,000 personnel, which Kiev wants to be further revised; and Washington’s demand that Ukraine formally abandon its NATO ambitions, a step the source said would set a “bad precedent.”

Ushakov has declined to comment on his conversation with Witkoff, saying those who leaked the supposed details of calls between US and Russian officials are trying to undermine the Ukraine peace process and stave off any improvement of relations between Moscow and Washington.

”Someone is leaking, someone is eavesdropping, but that’s not us,” he added.

Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East and senior figure in the Ukraine settlement process, is expected to visit Moscow next week as part of the American delegation, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov has said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll warned officials in Kiev last week that Ukraine would “suffer imminent defeat” on the battlefield, NBC News has reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Driscoll reportedly advised them to negotiate a peace deal because the situation would only deteriorate over time. “The message was basically – you are losing, and you need to accept the deal,” the network cited its source as saying.

Bne IntelliNews founder and veteran journalist Ben Aris has argued that the negotiations could be stalled once again if the EU manages to hijack the process with its own plan, many points of which are “deal killers” for Russia.

“The EU has as maximalist a position as the Kremlin does, where it makes unreasonable demands and is not prepared to budge. The difference, of course, is that Russia really is winning on the battlefield and, despite its growing economic problems, it is Ukraine that is going to run out of money first – possibly as soon as February – and then it will lose,” Aris wrote on Substack.

The EU submitted its plan directly in response to the US proposal, which critics described as too conciliatory toward Moscow. Russia has since rejected the EU’s terms as unacceptable.

According to Politico Europe, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky faces “a miserable choice”: either accept the US-drafted plan or “gamble his country’s future in the hope of one day getting enough help from his European friends.”

The analysis noted that Kiev’s European backers have yet to deliver all the weapons on Zelensky’s wishlist or agree to confiscate frozen Russian assets. Trump’s plan has rattled the EU because Zelensky “could not rely on Europe to do enough to help Ukraine on its own,” Politico added.

US President Donald Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One that he did not have a specific deadline for a peace deal, acknowledging that Russian troops have steadily gained ground in recent months.

”Look, the way it’s going – if you look, it’s just moving in one direction. Eventually, that’s land that over the next couple of months might be taken by Russia anyway. So do you want to fight and lose another 50,000-60,000 people, or do you want to do something now?” he said.

25 November 2025

The EU’s backlash against US President Donald Trump’s peace plan stems from a fear of being left out of the economic opportunities created by the conflict, columnist Rachel Marsden wrote in an op-ed for RT.

Scaremongering about Russia keeps defense spending high and arms-industry profits flowing, Marsden argued.

“It’s clear that the EU leaders are banking on a war economy,” she wrote. “So just imagine how much it would really suck for them if a peace economy suddenly broke out with prearranged business deals – and the only thing left for Europe is the opportunity to blow all the billions that they promised to Ukraine with no clear return on investment.”

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany released a joint statement expressing support for US President Donald Trump’s “efforts to put an end to the war.”

They emphasized that any negotiations “must fully involve Ukraine,” and that a lasting peace must include “robust and credible security guarantees” for Kiev. The statement added that any settlement must respect “the principle that borders must not be changed by force.”

Russia has repeatedly stated that Ukraine must recognize its new borders as part of any peace agreement.

The “counter-plan” brought forward by Kiev’s Western European backers is essentially a sabotage operation that aims to set conditions that Russia would find unacceptable and stall for time to allow more arms supplies for Ukraine, independent geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar has said.

One of the European proposal’s points is a 30-day ceasefire, with all territorial concessions to be discussed later, he said in an op-ed for Strategic Culture.

“That means everything frozen on the current front line, and no Ukraine withdrawal from the parts of Donbass they still occupy,” he wrote. “None of that – and much more – is remotely acceptable to the actual winner of the war, Russia.”

Meanwhile, Russia enjoys its advantages on the battlefield and continues pushing forward, he said.

Yet, no voice of reason has so far been capable of making EU leaders understand “that losers in wars do not dictate terms,” Escobar said.

Donald Trump has announced that he has directed US special envoy Steve Witkoff to travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Simultaneously, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who reportedly held talks with Russian officials on Tuesday, will be sent for negotiations with Ukraine, the US president wrote on Truth Social.

Only a “few remaining points of disagreement” were left after the US-drafted peace plan was “fine-tuned” with “input from both sides” during the recent talks, Trump said.

“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelensky and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” he added.

Moscow has long said that it will only accept a permanent peace that eliminates the root causes of the conflict, and not a temporary ceasefire.

Vladimir Zelensky has suggested that his European backers could join his upcoming meeting with Donald Trump to discuss “sensitive points” of the peace proposal.

“I am ready to meet with President Trump – there are sensitive points to discuss, we have them still, and we think that the presence of European leaders could be helpful,” Zelensky told his Western backers in a virtual meeting, according to CNN.

Earlier, his chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, said that the subject of territorial concessions would be a key bridge to cross at the talks with the US president.

He added that Kiev would not swear off its commitment to join NATO, a key clause of Trump’s peace plan.

Ukraine’s ambition to join the military bloc is a red line for Moscow and effectively kills any possible peace deal with Russia.

A peace deal in the Ukraine conflict is “very close,” US President Donald Trump has announced.

“We’re going to get there... we’re getting very close to a deal,” he said at a pre-Thanksgiving event at the White House.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Trump’s peace plan was an updated version of the proposal developed during their bilateral summit in Alaska earlier this year, and that it could form “the basis” for a final agreement.

However, should “the spirit of Anchorage be erased” from the plan that Washington ends up bringing to its talks with Russia, “the situation would be radically different,” Moscow has said.

The UK claims that Kiev has agreed to a “large part” of Trump’s amended peace deal, following the talks in Geneva.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, according to Sky News, has claimed that the Ukrainian leader has indicated that “in large part the majority of the text” can “be accepted.”

Moscow has refused to discuss media leaks regarding the US-drafted proposal, denouncing “megaphone diplomacy.”

Russia is willing to discuss “specific wording” of a potential peace deal, but will not compromise on the core objectives outlined by President Vladimir Putin to Trump during the summit in Alaska in August, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stressed.

Nor will Ukraine accept being left out of NATO, Yermak has also reportedly added. Ukraine's potential membership of the US-led military bloc was a key factor in the escalation of the conflict in 2022, so how Yermak views this position as something Moscow could accept is not clear.

The point is a key Russian peace demand, and reportedly one of 28 points of Trump’s proposal to end the Ukraine conflict.

The US president’s initial plan was “unacceptable,” Axios cited Yermak as saying. “My proposal is to forget about the 28 points.”

Kiev’s Western backers are now “working to make a plan which will be acceptable for Ukraine,” he reportedly said.

Vladimir Zelensky says he wants to meet with Donald Trump “as soon as possible” and possibly by this Thursday, to discuss Ukraine's submissions to what could be a US peace plan draft, Axios has reported, citing Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrey Yermak.

Once a joint draft is “confirmed and agreed,” Trump could then approach Russia with it, Yermak reportedly said in a Zoom interview.

The primary bone of contention during the talks would be over potential territorial handovers, he added, ignoring Russia's position that no presidential talks will take place until agreements on all substantive issues have been worked through. 

There are “delicate” details to sort out in talks over Donald Trump’s peace plan despite “tremendous progress” being made, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.

“There are a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out and will require further talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States,” she wrote on X.

Kiev has reportedly rejected a US-draft proposed limit of 600,000 peacetime personnel on its army and wants that number to be closer to 1 million, the Financial Times’ Kiev correspondent, Christopher Miller, reports, citing anonymous officials.

“Under the US-Ukraine deal, Kiev agreed to cap the size of its army at 800,000, according to senior officials who say they're pleased with the plan,” he said on X. “Points left are territorial matters and security guarantees, which are TBD by Zelensky and Trump.”

Earlier this year, Zelensky claimed that Ukrainian forces had 880,000 active troops.

Kiev supports Donald Trump’s peace framework in essence, following Sunday’s talks in Geneva, Reuters has reported, citing an anonymous Ukrainian official.

“Ukraine – after Geneva – supports the framework’s essence, and some of the most sensitive issues remain as points for the discussion between presidents,” the outlet cited its source as saying.

Only Russia can decide what happens to its sovereign assets frozen in the EU, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said, condemning French President Emmanuel Macron’s criticism of Trump’s peace plan.

“Those who are illegally holding funds belonging to the Russian Federation must return them if they do not want to be branded as European thieves and face the harshest response for their crime,” she wrote on Telegram.

“Europeans must decide” what they will do with the Russian Central Bank assets, as they are “held by Europeans,” Macron told RTL radio.

The bulk of the assets are currently frozen in Belgium. Moscow has stated that it views any attempt to seize them as “theft,” and warned of similar retaliatory measures.

Donald Trump’s peace plan included points that “were not acceptable,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

The talks in Geneva took steps toward an “updated peace framework,” and work will continue to refine the plan, he told Parliament.

He added that any points in the agreement related to NATO will need the green light from the bloc’s European members.

One of the key points for Russia is that Ukraine abandon its ambitions to join NATO. It has argued that the bloc’s expansion toward its borders was one of the key causes of the conflict.

The EU should not expect that Moscow will “come running” if it expresses a readiness to negotiate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said in an interview with the France-Russia Dialogue Association channel on YouTube.

“Moments of truth do come” to Western European leaders sometimes, Lavrov said, referring to a recent comment by Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who said that the EU would eventually have to engage in some sort of dialogue with Russia.

“But when they are ready to talk, we will think about what we will talk about… We want to understand what they are ready to bring to the negotiating table. After that, we will decide,” he explained.

The negotiations on the American-drafted peace plan between US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Russian officials in Abu Dhabi are “going well,” his spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Tolbert, has told Axios.

”We remain optimistic,” Tolbert stressed, adding that Driscoll “is closely synchronized with the White House and the US interagency as these talks progress.”

According to the outlet’s sources, a Ukrainian delegation headed by military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov is also in the UAE, negotiating with the Russians and the Americans.

Britain is preparing a smear campaign aimed at damaging US President Donald Trump’s reputation in order to derail his efforts to end the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has claimed.

"Plans have been concocted to revive former British intelligence officer [Christopher] Steele’s fake ‘dossier,' accusing the head of the White House and his family of having links to Soviet and Russian intelligence services,” the agency said in a statement.

The paper, penned by former MI6 officer Steele, in 2016 and reportedly paid for by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, relied on unverified rumors alleging that Trump and members of his family were compromised through ties with Moscow.

An unnamed US official has told CBS News that the Kiev government has largely accepted the terms of the plan drafted by administration of US President Donald Trump to end the Ukraine conflict.

“There are some minor details to be sorted out, but they have agreed to a peace deal,” the source claimed.

The head of the Ukrainian National Security Council, Rustem Umerov, said earlier that Zelensky would travel to the US by the end of the week to “make a deal with President Trump.” Kiev and Washington have “reached a common understanding on the core terms” of the peace plan during the negotiations in Geneva over the weekend, he said.

The leak of the US peace plan sparked “a multiday trans-Atlantic crisis” for the administration of President Donald Trump, as Ukraine’s backers in Europe and the US found the document to be more favorable to Russia, the Wall Street Journal reports.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to respond to numerous calls from “irate” European officials and US lawmakers, the outlet’s sources claim.

The EU and UK hastily put together their own pro-Ukrainian counter-plan, but Rubio said during talks with Kiev’s representatives in Geneva on the weekend that he had not even heard about the European initiative.

Western European nations leaked the US-drafted peace plan in an attempt to derail President President Donald Trump’s peace efforts and distort his initiative “for their own agenda,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday. “They are not particularly hiding this fact.”

According to Lavrov, the Russian side never does things like this and will “act in a way that is customary among foreign policy officials, which is to negotiate confidentially before announcing what was agreed.”

“Any other approach means exposing meaningful initiatives to the risk of being attacked by those who want to undermine them. And they do this through the media,” he said.

Moscow is waiting for Washington to provide it with the interim version of the US-drafted peace plan, which has been coordinated with Ukraine and Western Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Politico reported earlier that the US proposal was reduced from 28 to around 19 points as a result of discussions with the Ukrainians in Geneva on weekend after “sensitive” issues regarding territorial concessions by Kiev were reportedly removed from the text.

According to Lavrov, Moscow has so far only seen the initial version of the US plan. It was obtained “through unofficial channels. It has not been officially communicated to us, but we are ready, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said, to discuss specific clauses,” he said.

Vladimir Zelensky will travel to Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump by the end of the week, the head of the Ukrainian National Security Council, Rustem Umerov, has said.

Kiev is looking to organize Zelensky’s visit “at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump,” Umerov wrote on X.

The US and Ukrainian delegations “reached a common understanding on the core terms” of the American peace plan during the negotiations in Geneva at the weekend, he said.

"We now count on the support of our European partners in our further steps,” he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the US plan to end the Ukraine conflict is a step “in the right direction,” but that it still needs to be “discussed, negotiated, improved.” 

“We want peace. But not a peace that is in essence a capitulation, which puts Ukraine in an impossible situation, which gives Russia all the freedom to continue to go further, including to other European [countries] and putting everyone’s security in danger,” Macron told RTL radio.

Moscow has repeatedly denied having any intention of attacking Western Europe, saying that such claims are made by politicians in NATO countries to scare the population and justify increased military spending.

Moscow believes the US peace plan “could be a very good basis for negotiations” on settling the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said.

"Right now, the only substantive thing is the American plan, [US President Donald] Trump’s plan,” he told journalists.

According to the spokesman, the draft of the US proposal, which had been previously shared with Russia, “was developed, in part, based on the understandings reached in Anchorage” in August by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump.

Moscow is now waiting for Washington to provide it with the official version of its plan, Peskov said.

"We will remain completely open to the negotiating process. We are interested in achieving our goals through diplomatic means,” he added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on claims by the Western media that US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Russian representatives have been holding talks on the American peace plan in Abu Dhabi.

"No, we still have nothing to say. We are monitoring media reports. We are analyzing them,” Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

Moscow understands that “some adjustments” were made to the initial US proposal during the talks between the US and Ukrainian delegations in Geneva over the weekend, but it is unaware what they are exactly, he said.

"At some point, the time will probably come when we will also establish contacts with the Americans and we will officially receive some information,” the spokesman stressed.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is refusing to hold bilateral meetings with the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, unnamed officials have told Politico.

Kallas is “being kept out of the spotlight given her sometimes difficult relations with the Trump administration,” they claimed.

The Washington Post earlier cited a Western European diplomat, who accused the US of preventing the EU and UK from engaging in the Ukraine peace process.

During their meeting in Abu Dhabi later in the day, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Russian representatives will discuss the peace framework negotiated between Washington and Kiev in Geneva on the weekend, Politico reports, citing a US official.

The outlet described the talks as “a rare meeting between the countries’ top military leaders,” but did not name any participants of the Russian delegation. Moscow has not yet officially confirmed that any negotiations in the UAE are taking place.

According to Politico’s sources, the initial US peace plan was reduced from 28 to around 19 points as a result of discussions between the Americans and Ukrainians in Switzerland after “sensitive” issues regarding territorial concessions by Kiev were removed from the text. It was decided that these matters would be addressed during a face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.

The US is preventing the EU and UK from engaging in the Ukraine peace process, an unnamed Western European diplomat has told the Washington Post.

“We are not on board. We are trying to get on board, but it is being met for the moment with some rejections from Americans,” a source says.

There is a sense of “mystery around the current phase of negotiations” on Washington’s peace plan between the US and Ukraine, according to the diplomat.

Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko has said the US is genuinely interested in settling the Ukraine conflict, while the EU and UK are doing everything to prolong the fighting.

“I personally believe that an agreement on Ukraine is possible and I believe in the sincerity of [US President Donald] Trump’s intentions. I believe he wants to end this conflict,” she told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

According to Matviyenko, Western Europe still hopes to defeat Russia on the battlefield and has now become the “the main instrument wielded by the global war party.”

“Whenever any signs of something that could form the basis for a settlement appear, they immediately get together and torpedo the peace efforts, turning any plan for peace into a plan for continuing the war,” she argued.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold talks with Russian representatives on the Ukraine conflict in Abu Dhabi, UAE later in the day, CBS News reports, citing US officials.

"Secretary Driscoll met with members of the Russian delegation [Monday night] for several hours in Abu Dhabi. He is scheduled to meet with them again throughout the day [Tuesday] to discuss the peace process and rapidly move the peace negotiations forward,” a source says.

CBS News did not say who else is in Washington’s delegation and who is representing Moscow.

Along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Driscoll took part in negotiations with Ukraine on the US peace plan in Geneva on the weekend.

Czech President Petr Pavel told Polish news channel TVN24 that any peace deal should not resemble “Munich 2.0,” referring to the 1938 agreement in which France and Britain allowed Nazi Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia.

Pavel added, however, that Ukrainians and their EU supporters must be “realistic and see clearly what is happening on the ground,” acknowledging that “loss of territory is very possible.” He stressed, though, that Ukraine should not officially recognize Russia’s new borders.

Russia’s investment envoy and negotiator on Ukraine, Kirill Dmitriev, has blasted the “biased critics” of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan. He condemned those who “profit from the war – not just the deep state/military-industrial complex, but media and opinion makers.”

“War profiteers sabotage peace with unrealistic solutions,” Dmitriev wrote on X.

The Washington Post has cited an unnamed EU diplomat as saying, “The issue right now is that we don’t really have a clear picture of what is being negotiated between the US and Ukraine.”

The diplomat added that there was a sense of “mystery around the current phase of negotiations,” and that EU leaders were “being met for the moment with some rejections from Americans” when trying to join the talks.

European Council President Antonio Costa said that the EU must play an active role in determining the fate of frozen Russian funds.

“It is also clear that the issues that concern directly the EU, such as sanctions, enlargement or immobilized assets, require the full involvement and decision by the EU,” he said during a trip to Angola on Monday.

The plan drafted by the US reportedly calls for some frozen assets to be used for “US-led efforts to rebuild and invest in Ukraine.”

24 November 2025

Kurt Volker, the US envoy for Ukraine negotiations during Trump’s first term, argued that the US president cannot afford to abandon Ukraine or the peace process.

“But it would be an embarrassment for President Trump on the scale of the embarrassment for Joe Biden from walking away from Afghanistan,” he told CNN on Monday.

Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Aleksey Goncharenko has said that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky declined an offer to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington this week.

According to Goncharenko, Zelensky cited the need to prepare “a detailed plan” and consult with European leaders before the trip. He added that Zelensky would likely arrive in the US next week.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova shot back at Ursula von der Leyen, saying the EU chief “couldn’t have failed to hear about Kosovo,” arguing that it was the West that “by force implemented a unilateral redrawing of Serbia’s borders”.

Her remarks came in response to von der Leyen’s criticism of the reported US peace plan, parts of which would imply recognizing Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk as Russian.

On the question of limits on Ukraine’s future forces, Zakharova countered with a rhetorical jab:

“So, Ursula is denying a sovereign state the opportunity to decide on its armed forces?”

She then cited another line from von der Leyen: “Thirdly, the EU’s central role in ensuring peace for Ukraine must be fully reflected.”

Zakharova questioned that claim, asking since when the EU had been “ensuring peace” in Ukraine and suggesting Brussels should “clarify who is responsible for this and on what basis.”

She also pointed to the 2013–2014 crisis, arguing that President Viktor Yanukovych had “legitimately” suspended the EU integration deal because “the Ukrainian economy and legislation were not ready,” and accusing the West of provoking “another Maidan” that resulted in the 2014 change of power.

No meeting is planned between Trump and Zelensky this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Unnamed sources earlier told Reuters that Zelensky could travel to the United States as soon as this week to discuss aspects of a plan to end the Ukraine conflict.

US Vice President J.D. Vance has slammed former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell for criticizing Trump’s plan to end the Ukraine conflict. The senator also said that Putin wants to “play President Trump for a fool.”

Vance replied saying, “This is a ridiculous attack on the president’s team, which has worked tirelessly to clean up the mess in Ukraine that Mitch – always eager to write blank checks to Biden’s foreign policy – left us. I wonder if the three candidates to replace McConnell in Kentucky share his views here.”

The Kentucky Republican’s post criticizing the reported draft came on Friday, warning that it would be “disastrous to America’s interests,” and telling Trump to “find new advisors.”

Zelensky claims that Europe has incorporated “correct” points into the US peace plan, but “sensitive issues” were to be discussed with Trump.

”As of now, after (talks in) Geneva, there are fewer points, no longer 28, and many correct elements have been incorporated into this framework,” he said in a video address.

The US and Ukraine have “a couple of points of disagreement” concerning the draft peace proposal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.

However, Trump is optimistic a deal can be struck to end the conflict, she claimed.

Only Ukraine is “entitled” to talk about territorial issues, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Monday.

The original draft proposal put forward by the US allegedly put pressure on Kiev to cede territory and promise not to join NATO in exchange for an end to the conflict. Albares claimed that these matters are for Ukraine and NATO to decide.

A counterproposal drafted by the UK, France, and Germany is said to have made a number of key changes, including striking out the language regarding a restriction on further NATO expansion and removing references to territorial concessions.

The Telegraph and Reuters have published details of a European proposal drawn up by the UK, France, and Germany as an alternative to Washington’s peace plan, with the two approaches diverging on core issues such as territorial status, NATO membership, and the fate of frozen Russian assets. The European copy seen by Reuters would halt fighting along the current front lines, push territorial discussions to a later stage, and include a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine.

Both drafts reportedly envisage Washington receiving compensation for providing security guarantees, though no sum has been disclosed. The Telegraph said the European plan drops a clause that would have given the US 50% of future profits from frozen Russian assets “invested in Ukraine.” Moscow has described the reported US draft as a potential basis for an agreement but has dismissed the European version as “completely unconstructive.”

The US draft proposal should be seen only as “the first stage of a possible peace plan,” but would need to be rewritten “at least 80%… wholesale,” independent geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar has told RT’s Sanchez Effect. Escobar said that despite Western portrayals of the reported document as “pro-Russian,” the package in its current form would be unacceptable to Moscow.

Host Rick Sanchez and Escobar also discussed the major graft scandal that erupted in Ukraine this month after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced a probe into what it called a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by Zelensky’s longtime associate Timur Mindich. NABU has said the group siphoned around $100 million in kickbacks from the state-owned nuclear operator Energoatom, which relies heavily on foreign aid.

Escobar pointed to a lack of coverage of the scandal in the EU, saying, “You don’t read a single line in European mainstream media about the NABU investigation… total silence,” and claimed this was because officials feared the probe could “track back eventually to Brussels and to the European Commission.”

The Baltic leaders have urged tougher pressure on Moscow. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called for the “immediate use” of frozen Russian assets and tougher sanctions, while Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze echoed the push for stronger economic measures on Russia.

European leaders are issuing new statements as talks continue around the US peace proposal, CNN has reported.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed Berlin’s “unrelenting” support for Kiev, saying Ukraine must not be forced into unilateral territorial concessions. “Ukrainian interests are also common European interests,” Merz said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said negotiations are moving in the right direction, but stressed that more hard work is needed to reach the “right outcome.”

Ukraine’s political scene has been shaken by the Energoatom scandal, after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) accused Zelensky’s longtime associate Timur Mindich of running a kickback operation at the state nuclear operator. Mindich fled before he could be detained. The fallout has led to the dismissal of Ukraine’s energy and justice ministers.

Exiled Ukrainian journalist Anatoly Shariy has claimed that officials in Zelensky’s office considered accusing Servant of the People parliamentary faction head David Arakhamia of treason in order to deflect attention from the corruption scandal consuming his government on the day the under-fire Ukrainian leader met his party’s MPs.

Arakhamia has been among lawmakers urging Zelensky to dismiss his influential chief of staff Andrey Yermak, arguing that he could be linked to the recently exposed energy-sector graft scheme, whom Zelensky has refused to fire.

Shariy wrote on Telegram that internal discussions around the November 20 meeting allegedly ranged from jailing more investigators to silencing witnesses, but argued this would not stop the NABU’s probe from eventually reaching senior officials.

Kiev’s European backers are trying to re-arrange the US proposal by putting a ceasefire near the top of the roadmap, after Washington’s original draft reportedly made it the final step, CNN has reported. A pause along the current front lines could look tempting for Ukraine as Russian forces keep gaining ground, while the UK, France, and Germany want the fighting to stop before any talks on territorial swaps begin, the outlet wrote.

While the original plan has not been made public, multiple outlets have reported that it includes clauses which Kiev and its European sponsors previously rejected, such as recognition of Russian control over Crimea and Donbass, Ukraine abandoning its ambitions to join NATO, and the downsizing of its military. Ukraine’s European backers have reportedly submitted a modified version of the proposal that pushes back on the limits to Kiev’s armed forces and on territorial concessions.

Moscow has repeatedly said that it seeks a lasting resolution rather than a temporary ceasefire, which it argues would only allow Kiev to regroup and rearm. Russian officials insist any lasting settlement must address fundamental security demands, including that Ukraine maintain neutrality, stay out of NATO and other military blocs, demilitarize and denazify, and accept the current territorial reality.

“We should be discussing how Russia will not invade again… and not what Ukraine should give up because there is one victim and one aggressor in this war,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said, while “welcoming” Trump’s peace plan at the same time.

“We haven’t heard of Russia making any concessions,” she added, questioning why the US proposal makes no demands of Moscow. Under the deal, Russia would be required to relinquish Ukrainian land it occupies and give up claims to parts of Zaporozhye Region and Kherson Region it does not control.

Kallas also pushed back against the proposal to cap the size of Ukraine’s future armed forces, warning that such limits would “get Russia what it wants.”

The final number of points in the US peace proposal has not yet been agreed upon, but the talks are still centered on Washington’s original draft rather than the separate European version, an unnamed official briefed on the Geneva discussions has told the Washington Post. The source said European suggestions were “helpful,” but added that the Americans remain focused on their initial document as the basis for further negotiations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed Beijing’s support for “all efforts conducive to peace” in the Ukraine conflict during a phone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday. Xi urged all sides to narrow their differences and reach a “fair, lasting and binding” agreement soon to resolve the crisis “at its root,” according to a Chinese foreign ministry's press release.

Moscow has seen reports of a revised version of the US peace proposal put forward by Ukraine’s European backers, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov has said, calling it “completely unconstructive” and unacceptable.

At the same time, Ushakov told reporters that many points in the American draft reviewed by Moscow appear “acceptable.” He added that Russia has received a signal from Washington about holding an in-person meeting to start discussing the plan, but stressed that no concrete arrangements have been made yet.

Sunday’s talks between US, Ukrainian, and European officials in Geneva have resulted in the US-drafted peace plan being reduced to 19 points from the reported 28, according to the Financial Times, citing people briefed on the discussions. The sources did not specify which clauses had been removed.

The EU had put forward its own set of conditions for a potential agreement, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying after the talks in Geneva that they had “agreed on the main elements necessary for a just and lasting peace and Ukraine’s sovereignty.” She insisted that Ukraine’s borders cannot be changed “by force” and that no limitations can be placed on Kiev’s military.

Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine was facing a choice between accepting “28 difficult points” or the risk of losing its “key partner” and enduring a “hard winter.”

Zelensky has said the Ukrainian delegation is leaving Geneva and returning to Kiev after talks on the US peace proposal. Writing on X, he said he briefed Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store by phone on the “initial results,” and now expects a full report on the talks. “Based on these reports, we will determine the next steps and the timing,” Zelensky wrote, adding that Kiev would continue coordinating with its European and other supporters.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that no peace plan could proceed without European consent on issues affecting “European interests and sovereignty.” He told reporters in Luanda, Angola that Trump had signaled openness during their call last week to a jointly developed plan, and described the Geneva talks as delivering an “interim result” that clarified some points, though a settlement “won’t happen overnight.” Merz insisted that Russia must come to the negotiating table, arguing that “if this is possible, then every effort will have been worthwhile.” He said that the process will be long and that he does not expect a breakthrough this week.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council head Antonio Costa, and the leaders of Germany, Poland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and several other EU countries are holding a meeting on the sidelines of the European Union-African Union summit in Angolan capital, Luanda, to discuss the developments in the Ukraine process.

The bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and the leaders of other EU nations are participating in the discussions via video-conference, Euronews has reported.

Zelensky has said he spoke with European Council President Antonio Costa by phone and briefed him on the talks in Geneva.

"It is of great importance that Ukraine is participating in the development of the joint EU position [on the settlement] on an equal footing. We appreciate the respect,” Zelensky wrote on X.

US President Donald Trump has expressed cautious optimism about the negotiations on the American peace plan in Geneva.

“Is it really possible that big progress is being made in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine? Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

US President Donald Trump has not been involved in the specifics of America’s plan to end the fighting between Moscow and Kiev, the Washington Post has reported, citing an unnamed US official.

“You tell him: ‘I’m going to try to get a deal.’ He will say: ‘Great, go see what you can do.’ And that’s the level of detail he has,” the official recalled.

The source claimed that there is “absolute chaos” in the Trump administration when it comes to the Ukraine settlement “as even different parts of the White House don’t know what’s going on. It’s embarrassing.”

Swiss paper Le Temps has reported, citing sources, that Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have flown out to Washington.

Stubb earlier told AFP that he and Meloni had spoken with US President Donald Trump by phone on Sunday to discuss the American peace plan.

The Finnish president, whom Le Temps decried as Trump’s “new best friend,” and Meloni last visited the US capital in August.

There are no plans for the Russian and US delegations to hold a meeting this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told journalists.

"This is no specific information on the negotiations with us yet,” Peskov said, adding that Moscow remains open to contacts with Washington on settling the Ukraine conflict.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Russia has not yet received any official information about the results of the talks between the US and Ukraine in Geneva.

Moscow is only aware that “some adjustments were made to the text [of Washington’s peace plan] that we had seen earlier,” he said. “We will wait,” the spokesman added.

Peskov also reiterated that the Russian side finds it “impossible and unethical” to discuss the US proposals through the media.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said he talked with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky on the phone and welcomed the progress made during the Geneva talks on the US peace plan between Washington and Kiev.

“The negotiations were a step forward, but there are still major issues which remain to be resolved,” he said in a post on X.

Zelensky responded to Stubb’s message by saying Ukraine is “coordinating very well” with its Western European partners amid the discussions in Switzerland.

“It is crucial that every joint action with our partners is thoroughly thought out… Together, we will certainly safeguard our shared interests,” he wrote.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has assured EU and NATO representatives that their security concerns would be taken into account in any deal to settle the Ukraine conflict, Politico has reported, citing diplomatic sources.

According to the sources, both Ukrainians and Western Europeans currently believe their positions in the Geneva negotiations have been strengthened.

Washington is pushing for Kiev to accept the American peace plan as a basis for negotiations and issue an official statement that confirms this fact, Bloomberg has reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

According to the agency, US officials are also currently refusing to hold a joint meeting with both Ukrainian and Western European representatives.

Delegations from Washington and Kiev managed to find common ground on most of the provisions of the US peace plan, while amending a significant number of its contentious clauses, during the talks in Geneva, RBC-Ukraine has reported, citing Ukrainian and Western European sources.

The teams did not address the issues of territorial concessions by Kiev and its non-accession into NATO, agreeing that they should be decided upon by US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, it said.

The meeting between Trump and Zelensky could take place as early as this or next week, but no specific date has been set yet, according to the outlet.

Washington came up with its peace plan because it believes that the situation on the battlefield is not favorable for Kiev, RBC-Ukraine has reported, citing an informed Ukrainian source.

US Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and other American military officials, who visited Kiev last week, said that, according to their estimations, “the coming months will be critical for us [Ukraine] and that within 12 months we will lose Donbass anyway. And if they cut everything [aid] off from us, it could happen even faster,” the source claimed.

Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of the key logistics hub of Kupyansk in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, with thousands of Kiev troops also currently being encircled in Dmitrov-Krasnoarmeysk (Mirnograd-Pokrovsk), an urban area in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

The White House has issued a joint statement by the US and Ukrainian delegations as a result of the talks in Geneva, describing them as “constructive, focused, and respectful.”

“The discussions showed meaningful progress toward aligning positions and identifying clear next steps.

“They reaffirmed that any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and deliver a sustainable and just peace,” the statement read.

The negotiations resulted in the sides drafting “an updated and refined peace framework” for the Ukraine conflict, it said.

The document stressed that Kiev’s delegation “reaffirmed its gratitude for the steadfast commitment of the US and, personally, President Donald J. Trump for their tireless efforts aimed at ending the war.”

The US and Ukraine will continue “intensive work” on the American peace proposal in the coming day, while remaining in close contact with their Western European partners, it said.

The final decisions on the plan will be made by Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, according to the statement.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who headed the American delegation during the talks in Geneva, has departed Switzerland and is on his way back to Washington, a senior US State Department official has told CNN.

The US and the Ukrainian teams are expected to continue technical discussions of the American plan to settle the conflict between Moscow and Kiev on Monday. Rubio earlier expressed optimism about the process, saying “we are going to get there in a very reasonable period of time, very soon.”

A member of the Ukrainian delegation has allegedly broken his pen during nervous talks with US delegation in Geneva, Ukrainian media reports.

Reportedly, it was Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Umerov. 

23 November 2025

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is part of the US delegation in Geneva, CNN wrote, turning attention to one of the photos from the meeting.

Kushner is believed to have played a key role in US diplomacy in the Middle East and elsewhere during Trump’s first and second terms.

Britain, France and Germany have created a counter-proposal to the United States’ Ukraine peace plan, according to Reuters and CNN, citing European diplomatic sources.

One of the officials said the text was an accurate reflection of European bids to change the US draft proposal, but further alterations could have been made after talks in Geneva.

How does the plan differ?

– Counter-proposal for a softening of the language around restricting NATO in Europe.

– Removal of territorial concessions mentioned (Donetsk and Luhansk). In the European plan, all recognitions of Russian control are removed.

– Demand for a ceasefire before determining territorial swaps, and that the current front line be the basis for any future discussions.

– Removal of the 100-day deadline for elections in Ukraine, instead saying elections will be held as soon as possible after the signing of the peace agreement.

– Removal of all references to US-Russia investment structures, rooting that Russia pays to Ukraine.

– Size of Ukraine’s military would be “capped at 800,000 in peacetime,” which is the amount of military personnel it currently has.

Trump is satisfied with the progress on the Ukrainian conflict settlement, Rubio said. The president was “very positive” after getting report from the Secretary of State following the talks in Geneva.

“The Russians get a vote here” and will be consulted in the next step toward peace settlement, Rubio said after Geneva talks with Ukrainian officials.

However, he declined to get into the specifics on whether the Ukrainians have indicated they are prepared to compromise, given that it’s “an ongoing process.”

“This is a living, breathing document. Every day, with input, it changes… I can tell you that the items that remain open are not insurmountable. We just need more time than what we have today.”

Russia was not involved in Sunday’s talks.

US and Ukrainian officials are discussing a potential Zelensky visit to Washington as early as this week, according to Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The aim is to discuss “the most sensitive issues” of the peace plan proposed by Trump, such as the matter of territory.

There is no confirmed date for now, however.

Zelensky has said he believes there are signals that Trump’s team “is hearing us.”

“Today, talks are continuing in Switzerland. The teams will work practically into the night and there will be further reports,” he added in a video address.

”It is important that there is a conversation with American representatives and there are signals that President Trump’s team is hearing us,” Zelensky said.

Rubio has stated the US made progress in addressing unresolved questions on its draft plan to end the Ukraine conflict following a meeting with Kiev’s delegation in Geneva. According to the secretary of state, it is “possible” that Trump and Zelensky will have a phone conversation soon.

When asked about Europe’s counterproposals, Rubio answered, “I haven’t seen any counterplan.”

The American delegation has accused the Ukrainians of “leaking negative details about the plan in the US press,” Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote, citing sources, after negotiations concluded in Geneva. “The Ukrainians agreed to issue a positive statement by one of their negotiators in order to clear the air,” he added.

Zelensky reiterated his call for a “dignified” peace as US and Ukrainian delegations wrapped up their talks in Geneva.

The Ukrainian leader also said he was grateful to President Donald Trump and European leaders for discussing the US-proposed peace deal, just hours after Trump lashed out at Kiev for being ungrateful for his efforts.

“It is important not to forget the main goal – to stop Russia’s war and prevent it from ever igniting again. And to achieve that, peace must be dignified,” Zelensky said. “That is why we work so carefully on every point, on every step toward peace. Everything must work out the right way – so that this war is truly ended and so that it does not happen again.”

Foreign troops would be allowed into Ukraine as part of a counterproposal prepared by Europe, according to the Telegraph. The European changes include:

– no restriction on the presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian soil, while the US proposal reportedly calls for a ban on friendly forces in the country

– not putting any restriction on the size of Ukraine’s army, while the US-backed plan supposedly calls for limiting it to 600,000

– NATO members to decide who can join the alliance, which runs counter to an all-out ban on Ukraine’s accession put forward by the US

– a ceasefire across the current front line before any negotiations about territory exchanging hands can begin

Rubio has said the meeting with Ukraine was “probably [the] best” so far, adding that good progress was made in discussions of a draft US plan to end the conflict.

“So I think the takeaway from it is, I think this is a very, very meaningful, I would say, probably best meeting and day we’ve had so far in this entire process, going back to when we first came to office in January,” Rubio told reporters.

US sources have told Politico that talks with Ukraine today in Geneva have been “productive and even conclusive in some areas” as they discussed President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the war with Russia.

“As the day progressed, the Ukrainians and US delegation got together to have detailed discussions about the peace agreement,” a US official said. “There’s a formal meeting between the two delegations where they will be ironing out the details of the agreement.”

The Europeans have proposed that the US peace plan state that the Ukrainian army is limited to 600,000 troops “in peacetime” rather than the blanket cap proposed initially.

Another proposed change specifies that “negotiations on territorial swaps will start from the Line of Contact.”

The US peace plan is almost agreed upon and in its “final stages of coordination,” former defense minister and current head of Ukraine’s National Security Council Rustem Umerov wrote on social media.

“We highly appreciate the constructive interaction with the United States and their attentive attitude to our comments - this allows us to move forward in the joint process,” he added.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he expects the peace process between Russia and Ukraine to move forward. However, he has not discussed any Thanksgiving (Thursday) deadline with President Trump for Ukraine to sign onto the US plan.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be a decision with the Ukrainians,” Bessent told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

“Ukraine’s ‘leadership’ has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts, and Europe continues to buy oil from Russia” Trump has written on Truth Social; meanwhile, US, Ukrainian, and European delegations are meeting in Geneva. 

Trump once again stressed that the conflict would’ve never happened if not for “the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration.” 
“The USA continues to sell massive amounts of weapons to NATO, for distribution to Ukraine,” he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would hold a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday.

“We will do everything on the path to peace,” he stressed, speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of G-20 summit in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has welcomed the upcoming talks on the US peace plan in Geneva, saying that it is “good that diplomacy has been reinvigorated.” The delegations from Ukraine, the US and the EU remain “in close contact,” he wrote on X.

“The bloodshed must be stopped, and we must ensure that the war is never reignited,” Zelensky said.

He expressed hope that all of the participants of the Swiss talks will be “constructive,” adding that “we all need a positive outcome.”

The Ukrainian delegation in Geneva for talks on the US peace plan with Kiev’s Western backers has held negotiations with national security advisers from the UK, France, and Germany, Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrey Yermak has said.

“The next meeting is with the US delegation. We are in a very constructive mood,” he stressed.

An American official has confirmed to Reuters that both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, have arrived in the Swiss city of Geneva for talks on Washington’s peace plan for the Ukraine conflict with Ukrainian and Western European officials.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has arrived in Geneva for talks on Washington’s peace plan with Ukrainian and Western European officials, AFP has reported.

Rubio will be representing the US at the meeting in Switzerland together with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Talks in Geneva between US, Ukrainian, and EU officials on Washington's peace plan are not intended to produce a final deal, an unnamed American source has told Reuters.

“We hope to iron out the final details… to draft a deal that is advantageous to them [Ukraine],” the source said.

The official stressed that “nothing will be agreed on” until US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky meet face-to-face.

Convoys of vehicles with US diplomatic plates were seen driving through the Swiss city early on Sunday, but it is not yet clear when exactly the talks will kick off, according to the agency.

The head of Ukraine’s National Security Council, Rustem Umerov, has said that Vladimir Zelensky “might be ready to compromise on the crucial issue of swapping land in Donetsk for a peace deal” with Russia, Washington Post foreign affairs communist David Ignatius has said, citing unnamed US officials.

According to the sources, Umerov also told US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, during their meeting in Florida last week that Kiev could agree to cap the size of the Ukrainian military at 600,000 as it is reportedly envisaged in the US-drafted peace plan.

The officials said that Washington is considering supplying long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine as a security guarantee if a peace deal is reached. Members of Trump’s team are “confident that Ukraine would not use these preemptively against Russia because that would cost it US and European support,” they said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned previously that Moscow would consider the delivery of Tomahawks a major escalation and promised a “very strong response.”

Washington Post foreign affairs communist David Ignatius has said that an unnamed US official told him the Trump administration came up with its peace plan due to “a sense that recent reversals on the battlefield... and a corruption scandal in Kiev have brought Ukraine to an inflection point.”

There is also a belief in Washington that Russia might be willing to end the fighting due to “feeling growing economic pressure” as a result of the conflict, the source claimed.

Earlier this week, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of the key logistics hub of Kupyansk in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, and that thousands of Ukrainian troops were being encircled in the Dmitrov-Krasnoarmeysk (Mirnograd-Pokrovsk) urban area in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

Last week, the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced a probe into a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Vladimir Zelensky, which also involved other high-ranking Ukrainian officials.

Russian presidential aide, Kirill Dmitriev, has suggested that the Western money stolen by corrupt Ukrainian officials and funds from the US military-industrial complex are being used to fuel the “media hysteria” aimed at sabotaging the American plan to settle the Ukraine conflict. “They want war,” he wrote on X.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have discussed the Ukraine conflict on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa, a joint statement by the two nations said.

Merz and Carney reaffirmed their “unwavering support” for Kiev and insisted that any settlement of the crisis has to involve Ukraine, the document read.

The two leaders also said that a possible peace deal should respect Ukraine’s core interests and provide the country with security guarantees, it added.

Ukraine must hold an election as part of the settlement of the conflict with Russia, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Keith Kellogg, has said in an interview with Fox News.

The US-drafted peace plan states “quite clearly that Ukraine needs to have elections within 100 days. You can probably get there in about 90 days, based on the people I have talked to, but it will be an interesting process,” he said.

The vote is needed to “reassure the people, reassure the free world as well,” Kellogg, who is reportedly retiring from his post in January, explained.

Vladimir Zelensky’s term as Ukrainian president expired in 2024, but he has refused to call a new election, citing martial law in the country.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Washington’s peace plan provides “a strong framework for ongoing negotiations” to settle the Ukraine conflict.

The roadmap is based on input from Russia as well as previous and ongoing discussions with Ukraine, Rubio wrote on X.

Moscow has not confirmed its participation in the development of the American plan.

The Times has cited an unnamed British diplomat, who said that the US peace plan “may be Kiev’s best hope” in the current situation.

”It is not perfect, but it is not final, either. It could – could – offer a way to end the killing and allow us to focus on rebuilding Ukraine,” he explained.

French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed that the settlement of the Ukraine conflict “cannot simply be an American initiative,” calling for broader talks on the issue, with the participation of Western Europe.

The US plan is “good in the sense that it proposes peace and recognizes important elements on the issues of sovereignty and security,” he said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg.

The French leader also confirmed that Kiev’s Western European backers from the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ are scheduled to hold a video-conference on Tuesday to discuss the American roadmap, Le Monde has reported.

22 November 2025

The US-drafted peace plan is a “complete betrayal of Ukraine,” former British PM Boris Johnson wrote in a column for the Daily Mail.

“The Ukrainians have been handed an ultimatum to begin talks on these disgraceful terms. Where are their allies? Their friends? What about the Brits, for instance, who used to be such implacable foes of Russian expansionism?”

Zelensky should accept Trump’s peace deal as it is “the only path forward to end the war,” US Representative Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X.

Leaders of eight Nordic and Baltic nations said on Saturday they had spoken with Zelensky and reaffirmed their support for Kiev.

“Russia has so far not committed to a ceasefire or any steps leading to peace,” Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden claimed in a joint statement.

The group also backed strengthening sanctions and wider economic measures against Russia.

“Not sustainable” – that’s how Sweden is now describing the current balance of military support for Ukraine, adding that Nordic countries are picking up far more than their share of the bill.

In an interview with Politico, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said that Kiev’s allies may speak with equal enthusiasm, but not all are contributing equally.

“A few countries take almost all of the burden. That is not fair and it’s not sustainable in the long run,” she told the outlet.

Stenergard pointed to the scale of the imbalance:

“The fact that the Nordic countries, with less than 30 million people, we provide for one-third of the military support that the NATO countries, with almost one billion people, provide this year… this is not sustainable. It’s not reasonable in any way.”

She explained that the numbers highlight both what the Nordic countries are doing – and what others aren’t.

Keir Starmer has spoken to Zelensky by phone, followed by a call with Trump, a British government spokesperson told Reuters on Saturday.

Starmer reportedly reiterated London’s “steadfast support for Ukraine” to Zelensky and promised Trump that he would work with him on the peace plan at the same time.

“He can fight his little heart out,” Trump has said on the possibility of Zelensky refusing the peace deal.

“Can you maintain Ukraine’s war without the US? Did Trump consult you while drafting the 28-point plan?” – questions from RT that Macron ignored on the sidelines of G20.

The US peace plan for ending the Ukraine conflict “will require additional work,” Western nations participating at the G20 summit in Johannesburg have said once again in a joint statement. There has been no clarification on what changes are required as of yet.

The draft plan was leaked by media earlier this week and endorses some of Russia’s demands, such as handing over areas of eastern Donbass, limiting its military, and relinquishing its ambitions to join NATO. Washington has given Kiev a deadline of next Thursday to respond.

In the joint statement, the leaders said the draft “includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace,” but it is “a basis which will require additional work.” The summit participants reiterated that “borders must not be changed by force.”

The document was signed by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, Norway, and the EU, as well as Canada and Japan. Trump boycotted the summit.

Trump’s Ukraine peace proposal is not his final offer, the president told reporters on Saturday. “The war needs to end one way or another,” he added.

European and other Western leaders have scrambled to come up with a coordinated response to Trump’s demand that Ukraine accept his plan to end the conflict with Russia by Thanksgiving. Kiev’s European backers say the plan could be the basis for talks but needs “additional work.”

British PM Keir Starmer has said that the focus now is “whether we can make progress tomorrow” during the Geneva talks with the EU, US, and Ukraine’s representatives.

Starmer added that he intends to speak to Trump in the coming days and Zelensky this evening.

“It was mainly allies from the Coalition of the Willing, who are here in the G20, and the consensus was that there are elements in the 28-point plan which are essential to lasting peace, but it requires additional work, and that we are going to engage on that.”

European officials are insisting on changing at least four points of the US peace plan for Ukraine, according to the German newspaper Bild. They are:

- Proposals to recognize Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, the Donbass, and other territories;

- Possible reduction in the size of the Ukrainian army;

- Security guarantees;

- The use of frozen Russian assets.

According to Bild, the US ideas are particularly irritating to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

EU leaders are cautiously backing the new US plan for ending the Ukraine conflict, but have warned against introducing new constraints on Kiev in a published statement.

The document has been signed by a broad group of European leaders, including EU President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The leaders questioned the initial draft of the “the 28-point plan,” saying it “will require additional work.” They warned that proposed limits on Ukraine’s armed forces could leave the country exposed “to future attack,” underscoring Europe’s anxiety about any settlement.

“We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.”

Russia will not attend the Geneva talks, but the US “intends to have meetings” with its representatives “very soon,” Reuters wrote citing American officials.

Merz claims to be pressing Trump on Ukraine, says Europe must be at the table of any negotiations.

“If Ukraine loses this war and possibly collapses, it will have an impact on European politics as a whole,” Merz said after the G20 summit in Johannesburg. “That is why we are so committed to this issue.”

Merz added that he “made this position clear” to Trump — though it remains uncertain how much sway Berlin’s tone will have in final peace proposals.

Witkoff and Rubio are slated to arrive in Geneva for Ukraine peace talks planned for Sunday, according to Reuters. US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll has already arrived, according to a US official.

The DPA claims that representatives from the EU, US, and Ukraine will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the peace plan.

EU leaders are set to gather on Monday at an EU-Africa summit in Luanda, Angola to review a peace proposal for Ukraine which was drafted by the United States, according to European Council President Antonio Costa’s statement on Saturday.

“We are ready to engage in order to ensure that a future peace is sustainable. I have invited all 27 EU leaders for a special meeting on Ukraine on the margins of the EU-AU Summit in Luanda on Monday,”  Costa said in a post on X.

The Ukrainian conflict and disagreements between EU countries have reached a “turning point,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

He wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday, “we can turn back from the dead end and finally all of Europe can get behind President Trump's peace initiative. Including Brussels bureaucrats.”

He also added that “the leaders of the war party” will have to face the fact that “they have burned the money of the European people in a losing war” that has lasted more than three years.

He also said that he plans to send a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling on her to back the American peace plan.

“Only Mindich is better,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday, commenting on Andrey Yermak’s appointment to lead Ukraine’s delegation for talks on a US-proposed peace plan. “Great choice,” he added sarcastically.

Medvedev mocked the appointment as Yermak has recently been implicated in a $100 million scandal that has shaken Ukraine’s political landscape. The corruption case centers on a criminal network allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a former associate of Zelensky, who stands accused of siphoning funds from the state-owned nuclear operator Energoatom. Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has placed Mindich and his chief financier, Aleksandr Tsukerman, on its wanted list, according to the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs’ database.

The corruption investigation involving Zelensky’s circle is being frozen due to upcoming negotiations under pressure from European diplomats, Ukrainian journalist Anatoly Shariy has claimed, citing unnamed sources. He has accused Ukraine’s Western backers of shielding top Kiev officials.

Ukraine’s Zelensky has approved a nine-person team for talks on a US-proposed plan to end the conflict with Russia. The group includes the head of the presidential office, Andrey Yermak, and former defense minister and current head of the National Security Council Rustem Umerov. Yermak will lead the delegation.

The negotiations will reportedly take place in Switzerland with US and European representatives present. “The main topic is the parameters of a future peace agreement,” Umerov said.

Yermak has been recently implicated in a major $100 million graft scandal under investigation by Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau (NABU). Umerov has also faced separate corruption allegations.

Ukraine’s Zelensky, together with leaders in France, Germany and across the EU, is working to craft a response that satisfies US demands without fully conceding to the proposed peace plan.

According to sources cited by Bloomberg, their strategy is to significantly revise key sections of the document while framing the edits as constructive improvements rather than pushback. European officials are scrambling to secure more time as Washington pressures Kiev to accept the plan by next Thursday.

Berliner Zeitung reports that, despite public claims of surprise, the German government had known about the new US peace plan for Ukraine well in advance. According to multiple sources cited by the newspaper, security advisers in the Chancellor’s Office were informed as early as late October, contradicting Chief of Staff Thorsten Frei’s statement that Berlin had no prior knowledge of US-Russia talks.

A draft of the 28-point plan was sent to the Chancellery through secure channels in early November, along with signals that Washington was working on a phased path toward ending the conflict. Germany’s intelligence services and the National Security Council also reviewed the document. Still, the Chancellery has publicly avoided commenting on details, with spokesman Stefan Kornelius saying Europe is only now beginning to coordinate its part in the process.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said the new peace plan leaves Kiev in a significantly weaker position than in early 2022.

Fico also accused EU countries of failing to acknowledge their own role in prolonging the war, pointing to years of weapons deliveries and political decisions that, in his view, intensified the conflict rather than containing it. He criticized European leaders for not accepting responsibility for the “hundreds of thousands” of lives lost since 2022, arguing that the agreement now on the table reflects a belated recognition that the earlier strategy was misguided.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has said that the reported US peace plan for Ukraine was developed “over our heads,” and that Europe was not a participant at any stage.

He stressed that the proposal, supposed to emanate from Donald Trump’s circle, “comes from the analysis, from the talks that President Trump conducted,” adding that “in no way this plan, neither with European leaders, I think from NATO was not even consulted.”

Zelensky and his “Euro-chums seem too inept to grasp the basic fact they’re in no position to dictate peace, since they’ve lost the war,” Former British MP Lembit Opik wrote on X on Friday. He added that “winners write the history. Losers are handed the terms of their defeat.” 

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that “Ukraine must determine its future,” after speaking to Zelensky about a US-backed peace plan.

In a separate post, Opik dismissed the role of Starmer and other Kiev backers in discussions regarding Ukraine’s future. Referencing upcoming peace talks, he wrote: “Starmer’s clumsy comments reveal how totally irrelevant he & his ‘Coalition of the Willing’ are. Time for them to bow out and leave it to the grown-ups: Putin & Trump.”

Leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, are expected to meet in person on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Sunday to discuss next steps on a Trump-backed peace plan, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday. European officials are also reportedly hoping to secure a phone call with the US president, who has opted not to attend the gathering.

“Every criticism of the peace framework…either misunderstands the framework or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” US Vice President J.D. Vance has said. In an X post on Saturday he rejected what he called the “fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand.” Peace, he wrote, will not be achieved by “failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land,” but by “smart people living in the real world.”

“Despite the Europeans’ lobbying, Trump’s fundamental view of the conflict has not shifted since that Oval Office meeting in February. For Trump, Zelensky is trying to bluff his way to a better deal with a losing hand. The US president thinks that Putin holds all the aces,” according to reporting by The Times.

The Trump administration has issued a blunt ultimatum to Kiev, pushing Zelensky to accept a peace plan by Thursday or risk losing crucial US support, according to the Financial Times. At a tense meeting in the US chargé d’affaires residence, American envoys reportedly warned there was little room for negotiation, arguing that Ukraine’s weakening military position made swift agreement necessary. European diplomats described the tone as “shocking,” with one calling it “nauseating,” and raised concerns that the proposal closely echoed Moscow’s preferences.

US army secretary Daniel Driscoll intensified the pressure, reportedly saying he was “optimistic that now is the time for peace” but insisting that “we are not negotiating details.” His remarks, along with President Donald Trump’s claim that Ukraine would “have to like” the deal, spurred urgent late‑night discussions among European leaders at the G20 summit in Johannesburg. One official commented, “It is time for the Trump whisperers to start shouting,” as Kiev’s supporters considered how to slow Washington’s push for a rapid agreement.

“Warmongers hate President Trump’s peace plans and do everything to sabotage them … UK & EU anti‑Trump warmongers are particularly active,” Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on X.

In a separate post, Dmitriev wrote: “Because of warmongers’ propaganda, many people miss that Trump’s Peace Plan is designed to save Ukraine from losing even more land and lives. Watch closely attackers of the Peace Plan — and how they benefit from an endless war. Maybe they just hope to get a golden toilet,” in an apparent reference to the massive graft scandal that unfolded in Ukraine last week.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said a US-backed peace proposal centres on lifting sanctions and reintegrating Russia into the global economy, arguing that Europe’s economic interests have suffered since relations with Moscow collapsed.

In a post on X on Friday, he contrasted the reported US plan with EU proposals to provide another €100 billion ($115 billion) in support for Ukraine, accusing Brussels of prolonging the conflict. Szijjártó urged European leaders not to undermine what he called American efforts for peace, saying he hoped the plan could be adopted soon so that “peace can finally return.”

Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s economic aide and a senior negotiator, welcomed Szijjarto’s remarks. He said Hungary remained “a voice of reason and peace in Europe,” accusing EU leaders of following what he called President Joe Biden’s “false narrative of endless war.” Dmitriev said such “voices of reason and peace” would ultimately prevail by exposing “globalist, brainwashing media” promoting conflict.

21 November 2025

British PM Keir Starmer says he and other "Ukraine's partners" will meet on the margins of G20 summit to discuss "securing a full ceasefire." 

Prolonging the Ukrainian conflict will not improve Kiev’s negotiating position, The Economist wrote, citing a source in Ukrainian intelligence agencies. “Right now, we are holding on, just about,” he said. “In two months’ time, who knows? The deal on offer won’t get any better by then either.”

The US submitted the peace plan, as Zelensky’s legitimacy at home has been significantly undermined by a corruption scandal, while Ukraine’s forces on the conflict frontlines have suffered a series of setbacks.

In recent months, Russian forces have been steadily advancing in the Donetsk People’s Republic, making significant gains. The Ukrainian military, by contrast, is facing severe personnel shortages.

A group of American generals is “likely” to fly to Moscow next week to discuss the Ukraine peace plan with the Kremlin, The Guardian wrote citing US sources.

Zelensky is “going to have to accept something,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

”You remember, right, in the Oval Office not so long ago, I said, ‘You don’t have the cards’,” the president added, referencing the heated argument between him, Vice President J.D. Vance and Zelensky earlier this year.

Both Trump and Vance then accused Zelensky of not showing gratitude after he challenged the latter on the question of diplomacy with Putin. The argument in the Oval Office was broadcast globally and led to the rest of Zelensky’s White House visit being canceled.

Trump says Zelensky “will have to like” the US-backed peace plan. "I thought they should have acted quicker. But it’s a cold winter and a lot of the utilities, but a lot of the big energy producing plants have been under attack, to put it mildly, to put it nicely," he added. 

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has said that the EU is extending its sanctions against RT because the channel keeps reporting on “Nazism in Ukraine and the crimes of the Kiev regime.” She said on Telegram: “We wrote, we write, and we will keep writing.”

US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have discussed the peace plan Washington drafted for ending the Ukrainian conflict, a German government spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

The two leaders spoke on the phone “for a quarter of an hour,” the spokesperson added. Merz will now inform other European partners to coordinate further steps.

Discussion of the plan is expected to dominate the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg that many European leaders are attending this weekend, despite a boycott by Trump.

Ukraine’s leadership either lacks objective information about the situation on the front line or is unable to assess it properly, Putin has said. Kiev has previously denied that its forces were encircled in the key logistics hub of Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region.

The Russian president warned that if Kiev refuses to discuss Trump’s peace proposal, “they and the European warmongers must realize that events in Kupyansk will repeat in other key areas — maybe not as quickly as we would like, but inevitably.”

On Thursday, Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin that Russian forces had liberated Kupyansk, while Ukraine’s General Staff has insisted the city remains under Kiev’s control.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noell Barrotto is to host a call with his European counterparts to discuss Ukraine later on Friday evening, Reuters has reported, citing a French diplomatic source.

The source said the call in the so-called “Washington format” would be held with foreign ministers of Germany, Poland, Britain, Finland, and Italy, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief.

Earlier on Friday, Reuters wrote Kiev's Western European backers and Ukraine are “preparing a counter-proposal” in response to the US plan for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has posted on X that EU leaders will discuss the US peace plan on Saturday. “As next steps, European leaders will meet tomorrow on the margins of the G20 and then in Angola at the EU–AU meeting.”

Ukraine and its European supporters are “likely still under the illusion” that they could inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia on the battlefield, Putin has said. He argued that such a stance stems not only from “low competence” but from a lack of objective information about the real situation on the front lines. “And, apparently, neither in Ukraine nor in Europe do they understand what this may ultimately lead to,” Putin added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made his first public comments on the new US peace plan. Speaking at a Russian Security Council meeting, Putin said Trump’s proposal for resolving the conflict was already under discussion before their meeting in Alaska in August. “During the discussions, the American side asked us to make certain compromises,” he said.

According to the Russian president, Moscow confirmed during the talks that it agreed with the peace proposals. However, he added that after the Alaska meeting there was a pause from the US side, which he attributed to Ukraine’s rejection of Trump’s draft. This is why the “modernized plan” containing 28 points appeared later, Putin said, adding that Moscow has the document.

“I believe it could also form the basis of a final peace settlement. But this text is not being discussed with us in substance,” Putin said.

The issue of corruption in Ukraine recently returned to the spotlight in a big way after the $100 million graft scandal linked to a close ally of Zelensky erupted last week.

And according to the Wall Street Journal, Kiev removed a key anti-corruption clause from the US-drafted peace plan for the conflict.

An initial proposal for an audit of all foreign aid into the country to be included in the plan was replaced with a generic point on a “full amnesty for all actions committed during the war,” the outlet reported on Thursday, citing a senior US official. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said any Ukraine peace settlement should comply with the organization’s principles and General Assembly resolutions. The reported 28-point US peace plan “has not yet been formally presented to any party,” he told a news conference ahead of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“I’ve just read in the papers that Russia has not yet received any peace plan,” Guterres added.

Veteran German politician Sahra Wagenknecht has described the EU as being in “diplomatic isolation” over the Ukraine peace process.

According to Wagenknecht, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was not even aware that the US had come up with a fresh plan to resolve the conflict.

In a post on X, she argued that instead of continuing to fund the “unwinnable” Ukraine conflict, EU leaders “should finally support peace negotiations.”

“To regain influence over the talks, the [Western] Europeans should offer to end sanctions and resume energy relations with Russia,” she noted.

You can find more on that story here.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ridiculed Zelensky’s address, in which he claimed he would try to present an alternative to the US peace proposal. Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, referenced the corruption allegations involving Zelensky’s longtime business partner Timur Mindich, joking that “to start a full-scale mess, you need a golden toilet – and only Mindich has one.”

A photo of a golden toilet allegedly found in Mindich’s luxury apartment has gone viral, fueling mockery amid a major scandal that erupted this month after Ukraine’s Western-backed anti-graft agency opened an investigation into what it described as a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by Mindich. The group is suspected of embezzling around $100 million in kickbacks from the state-owned nuclear operator Energoatom, which relies heavily on foreign funding.

In his social media post, Zelensky also says Ukraine will work with the US and Europe “at the level of national security advisers” towards a peace plan.

Zelensky says he has discussed the US peace proposal with Vice President J.D. Vance and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and that they are working “to make the path forward dignified and truly effective.”

“Ukraine has always respected and continues to respect US President Donald Trump’s desire to put an end to the bloodshed, and we view every realistic proposal positively,” he wrote on X.

Next Thursday [Thanksgiving] is “an appropriate deadline” for Ukraine to accept the US peace plan, Trump has told Fox News.

The Russian Defense Ministry has reported its air-defense forces intercepted and destroyed 33 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over several regions during the night of November 21. According to Rostov Region Governor Yury Slyusar, more than 200 houses were left without power after a drone strike damaged a transmission-line support.

CNN emphasizes that Zelensky has a choice between dignity and US support as Washington pushes its peace proposal.

“Matters concerning Ukraine are for Ukraine to decide, and decisions about Europe cannot be made without Europe’s involvement,” Finland’s President Alexander Stubb has said as cited by officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.

Kiev must be allowed to make its own decisions on how to end the conflict, he added.

Italy’s La Stampa is reporting that ‘EU leaders’ (only four are pictured) are working on an alternative plan, citing megafone diplomacy from bloc diplomat Kaja Kallas.

A blast has struck a Territorial Recruitment Center (TCR) in the city of Odessa, killing one person and injuring another, Ukrainian officials have said. Local media, citing police sources, reported that the suspected perpetrator may have been a local resident who had allegedly been forcibly mobilized by staff at the center. Police and emergency crews have reportedly cordoned off the area and are inspecting the building.

The blast is the latest incident reflecting wider tensions over Kiev’s mobilization drive. Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmitry Lubinets, recently reported a sharp increase in complaints over illegal conscription practices, with nearly 5,000 filed this year.

According to former Ukrainian security service officer Vasily Prozorov, any attempt by Zelensky to accept a peace deal would be “categorically unacceptable” to what he described as the “war party,” made up of Ukrainian nationalists and actors “under the auspices of Great Britain,” which he said “is interested in continuing this war.”

Prozorov claimed that in such a scenario, the “easiest option” for these forces would be Zelensky’s elimination, which could then be blamed on Russia. “They will announce that he died heroically at the hands of the Russian soldiers or under drone fire,” Prozorov said.

Zelensky is also reported to have spoken to US Vice President J.D. Vance in the last hour — around the same time as he delivered his address acknowledging the choice between “the difficult 28 points, or a very difficult winter.”

The US will view a “sustained armed attack” by Russia across the agreed armistice line as an attack on the “transatlantic community.”

The framework is modeled on NATO’s Article 5, stating that an attack on one shall be deemed an attack on all.

"The United States affirms that a significant, deliberate, and sustained armed attack by the Russian Federation across the agreed armistice line into Ukrainian territory shall be regarded as an attack threatening the peace and security of the transatlantic community. In such an event, the President of the United States shall, in exercise of constitutional authority and after immediate consultations with Ukraine, NATO, and European partners, determine the measures necessary to restore security," according to the text published by Axios reporter Barak Ravid. 

Axios reporter Barak Ravid, who has been at the forefront of leaks from the US on peace plan developments has published what he claims is the full text of the US draft proposal for a Ukraine security guarantee. 

Zelensky has addressed the nation in a video published on his Telegram channel, commenting upon Trump's peace plan.

“This is one of the most difficult moments in our history. The pressure on Ukraine is now one of the most difficult. Ukraine could face a very difficult choice: the loss of dignity or the threat of losing a key partner. Either the difficult 28 points, or a very difficult winter,” he said.

He claimed that he plans to amend the plan to ensure it reflects “the honor and dignity of Ukrainians.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has called on Ukraine’s European backers not to undermine US peace efforts.  

He highlighted the damage the EU economy has taken after cutting ties with Russia, saying Hungary has already lost a lot because of “a war we have nothing to do with.”

Ukrainian officials already appear to be at odds over the US peace plan. While Zelensky has publicly said he is willing to negotiate with Trump, Kiev’s officials at the UN have already rejected several key clauses out of hand.

During a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, Kiev’s deputy permanent representative, Khristina Gayovyshyn, insisted “there will never be any recognition – formal or otherwise” of any former Ukrainian territories as part of Russia. 

“Our land is not for sale,” Gayovyshyn stated, adding that Ukraine will also “not accept any limits… on the size and capabilities of its armed forces.” 

Zelensky is expected to speak with US Vice President J.D. Vance later on Friday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote on X, citing two sources.

Britain will provide Ukraine with a NATO-style security guarantee as part of Trump’s peace plan, The Telegraph has reported. Zelensky said he is prepared to use the plan as a starting point for negotiations, according to the paper.

Amid a morning of frantic calls and posturing in Western Europe the Kremlin has refused to be drawn into megafone diplomacy, according to Russian outlet RBK. “Do you want us to negotiate such a complex matter via megaphone? We are open to peace talks for the sake of successful peace talks, not for the sake of the process,” he said. Asked about the conditions for Russia’s readiness for negotiations, Peskov referred to the discussions in Anchorage between Putin and Trump in August.

Trump has indicated he wants to expedite ending the  conflict, hoping to conclude it by the end of the year, according to CNN. The push to restart talks reemerged as a top priority for Trump shortly after the US helped broker a ceasefire in Gaza, the outlet wrote on Friday.

Zelensky confirmed on X he has held a joint call with Macron, Starmer and Merz to coordinate positions on a new peace proposal. “We are working on a document prepared by the American side,” he wrote, praising the efforts of US President Donald Trump and his team.

“We all want this war to end,” the EU’s Kaja Kallas has insisted, despite not offering any proposals on how to do so. “How it ends matters,” she added, insisting “This is a very dangerous moment for all.”

The US has threatened to cut off Ukraine from intelligence and weaponry in a bid to press it into accepting President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. 

A delegation of senior US military officials met with Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev earlier this week. The US ambassador in Ukraine and the army public affairs chief travelling with the delegation described the meeting as a success and said Washington sought an “aggressive timeline” for the signature of a document between Washington and Kiev. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz held a joint call with French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, the German government has said.

The three Western leaders “reiterated their full support” for Kiev and pledged to keep coordinating efforts aimed at what Berlin described as a “lasting and just peace.” Berlin said any steps involving the EU or NATO would require full consensus among member states.

Here’s the readout (auf Deutsch) of Merz’s call with Macron, Starmer and Zelensky. Worth noting some reporters have detected a weakness in the second part of the text, in the pledge to continue pursuing security for Ukraine.

Starmer claims he and other Ukraine backers are to support Trump’s peace plan and “look at how we can strenghthen plan.”