Officials say progress made on amending US peace plan for Ukraine
[November 25, 2025]
By BARRY HATTON and ISOBEL KOSHIW
Officials on Monday said progress was made in urgent weekend talks on
amending the U.S. peace proposal for Ukraine that many saw as favoring
Russia, but the Kremlin said it hadn’t seen the changes.
Washington’s 28-point plan presented last week caused alarm by heavily
aligning with Moscow’s demands in the nearly four-year war caused by its
invasion. The plan pressed Ukraine to hand over some territory to Russia
and reduce its army. It also sought Europe’s agreement that Ukraine will
never be admitted into the NATO military alliance.
An adviser to Ukraine’s president who attended the talks in Geneva
between U.S. and Ukrainian officials told the AP they managed to discuss
almost all the plan's points, and one unresolved issue is that of
territory, which can only be decided at the head of state level. Ukraine
and allies have ruled out territorial concessions.
Oleksandr Bevz also said the U.S. showed “great openness and
understanding” that security guarantees are the cornerstone of any
agreement for Ukraine. He said the U.S. would continue working on the
plan, then the leaders of Ukraine and the U.S. will meet. After that,
the plan would be presented to Russia.
Bevz would not say what if any compromises Ukraine made in the talks,
and added that “everyone arrived stressed."
European officials, who say they were blindsided by the U.S. plan and
that their own security is at stake, pressed Washington for changes in
the Geneva talks.
“The negotiations were a step forward, but there are still major issues
which remain to be resolved,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on
social media.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who had accused Ukraine of not being
sufficiently grateful for U.S. military support while the talks were
underway, on Monday suggested the process could be moving in the right
direction.
“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,” he wrote on social media.
Trump earlier gave Ukraine until Thursday to agree to the plan, but U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the deadline, saying officials
could keep negotiating.
But Russian officials still haven’t seen the revised peace plan, a
Kremlin spokesperson said. Dmitry Peskov added there was no plan for
U.S. and Russian delegations to meet this week, but the Russian side
remained “open for such contacts.”
Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs
adviser, said the plan the Kremlin had received before the Geneva talks
had many provisions that "seem quite acceptable” to Moscow. He described
European proposals “floating around” as “completely unconstructive.”
Ukraine's allies plan talks on Tuesday
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Ukraine’s allies in the
“coalition of the willing” — a broad term for about 30 countries
supporting Kyiv — will hold talks about the negotiations on Tuesday by
video.
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A man hugs his children as they react to the death of their mother
killed by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Sunday, Nov.
23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the “interim result” of
the Geneva talks, saying the U.S. proposal “has now been modified in
significant parts," without details.
The surprise emergence of the U.S. peace plan coincided with a bleak
period for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His country is
under severe strain on the front line against Russia’s bigger army,
and it is short of money.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy is trying to defuse a major corruption scandal
that has tainted his government.
Zelenskyy late Sunday said of the Geneva talks: “Diplomacy has been
reinvigorated, and that’s good. Very good."
A call to Russia
Rubio, who directed the talks in Geneva, on Sunday called them “very
worthwhile” and constituted the most productive day in “a very long
time.”
“I feel very optimistic that we can get something done,” Rubio said.
Merz, the German leader, said Moscow must now become engaged in the
process.
“The next step must be that Russia must come to the table," he said
in Angola, where he was attending a summit between African and
European Union countries. "This is a laborious process. It will move
forward at most in smaller steps this week. I do not expect there to
be a breakthrough this week.”
Turkey also hopes to build bridges between Russia and Ukraine. Putin
spoke by phone with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Monday, the Kremlin spokesperson said.
Russian drones kill 4 in Ukraine
Russian drones hit residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s
second-largest city, overnight, killing four people and wounding 13,
including two children, authorities said.
Eight residential buildings, an educational facility and power lines
were damaged, according to the head of the regional military
administration, Oleh Syniehubov.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 162 strike and decoy drones
over the country overnight.
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Koshiw reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Harriet
Morris in Tallinn, Estonia; Gerald Imray in Johannesburg, South
Africa; Kirsten Grieshaber and Geir Moulson in Berlin; Sam McNeil in
Brussels; and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England,
contributed to this report.
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