US, Ukraine Make Progress on Trump's Peace Plan

The U.S. and Ukraine made "meaningful progress toward aligning positions" on President Trump's proposed peace plan during their talks in Geneva on Sunday, the two countries said in a joint statement issued by the White House.

"Final decisions under this framework will be made by the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States," Sunday night's joint statement read.

Diplomacy over the plan to end the war with Russia's invading forces has accelerated since Axios revealed it Tuesday. Trump has set a Thanksgiving deadline for reaching an understanding with Ukraine.

The joint statement said that "as a result of the discussions, the parties drafted an updated and refined peace framework."

Trump's 28-point peace plan would force Kyiv to give up additional territory in the east, agree it will never join NATO and accept full amnesty for Russians accused of war crimes.

On the other hand, the plan includes an unprecedented security guarantee from the U.S. and Europe modeled on NATO's Article 5, which would commit allies to treat an attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire "transatlantic community."

The White House issued a statement after Sunday's talks concluded, saying: "Ukrainian representatives stated that, based on the revisions and clarifications presented today, they believe the current draft reflects their national interests and provides credible and enforceable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine's security in both the near and long term."

The White House added that the Ukrainian delegation "affirmed that all of their principal concerns — security guarantees, long-term economic development, infrastructure protection, freedom of navigation, and political sovereignty — were thoroughly addressed during the meeting."

Ukrainian officials underscored in the talks that the security guarantee the U.S. proposed together with other parts of the plan "addresses their core strategic requirements, according to the White House.

"Both sides welcomed the steady progress made and agreed to continue consultations as the agreements move toward final refinement. The meeting concluded with a shared understanding that today marked a significant step forward, and that continued close coordination will be essential," the White House said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner met Sunday with Ukraine's delegation at the U.S. mission in Geneva, a U.S. official directly involved in the talks said.

After hours of talks in Geneva, Rubio said negotiators had substantially narrowed the list of open issues in Trump's proposal.

Rubio called it "probably the most productive day we have had on this issue, maybe in the entirety of our engagement," while stressing that "work remains."

The U.S. team briefed Trump on Sunday's progress and that "he's quite pleased at the reports we've given him about the amount of progress that's been made," he said.

Asked about Trump's Thanksgiving deadline, Rubio said the real goal is to get a deal "as soon as possible."

Points in the plan concerning Europe and NATO will be handled on a separate track "because it involves them," he added.

In a statement after the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his delegation had "thorough discussions" with U.S. officials.

"A lot is changing: we are working very carefully. It is important that there is dialogue with the American representatives, and there are signals that President Trump's team is hearing us," he said.

Rubio and Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, stressed "the final word" will rest with Trump and Zelensky.

Two sources with knowledge of the talks said Rubio's and Yermak's upbeat statements came hours after a tense meeting Sunday morning during which the American side accused Ukrainian officials of leaking negative details about the plan in the U.S. press.

The Ukrainians agreed to issue a positive statement by one of their negotiators in order to clear the air, a source said.

Later Sunday, Ukrainian officials presented a counterproposal with requests for changes to Trump's plan and the U.S. expressed willingness to make some changes based on this, a source with knowledge of the talks said.

As Sunday's talks were taking place, Trump accused Ukrainian leadership of being ungrateful for his efforts to end the war.

In an angry post on his Truth Social account President Trump criticized Zelensky and said that "with strong and proper U.S. and Ukrainian LEADERSHIP" the war wouldn't have happened.

"I INHERITED A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, A WAR THAT IS A LOSER FOR EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE SO NEEDLESSLY DIED. UKRAINE 'LEADERSHIP' HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA. THE USA CONTINUES TO SELL MASSIVE $AMOUNTS OF WEAPONS TO NATO, FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UKRAINE," Trump wrote.

Zelensky wrote earlier on his X account that his delegation in Geneva is focused on finding "doable solutions" to end the war

"Currently, there is an understanding that the American proposals may include a number of elements based on Ukrainian perspectives and critical for Ukrainian national interests. Further work is ongoing to make all elements truly effective," he wrote.