Ukraine and Western allies meet in Geneva to discuss US peace plan
GENEVA AP Talks between Ukraine and its Western allies on a U S -proposed peace plan to end Russia s invasion got underway in Geneva on Sunday Ukrainian functionaries announced Sunday The head of the Ukrainian delegation presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak wrote on social media commented that they held they first meeting with the national shield advisers from the U K France and Germany The allies have rallied around Kyiv in a push to revise the plan which is seen as favoring Moscow despite its all-out invasion of its neighbor U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to join the talks together with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and President Donald Trump s special envoy Steve Witkoff The next meeting is with the U S delegation We are in a very constructive mood Yermak stated We continue working together to achieve a lasting and just peace for Ukraine The -point blueprint drawn up by the U S to end the nearly four-year war has sparked alarm in Kyiv and European capitals Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared his country could face a stark choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving the American assistance it necessities The plan acquiesces to a multitude of Russian demands that Zelenskyy has categorically rejected on dozens of occasions including giving up large pieces of territory The Ukrainian leader has vowed that his people will perpetually defend their home Speaking before Sunday s talks Alice Rufo France s minister delegate at the Defense Ministry narrated broadcaster France Info that key points of discussion would include the plan s restrictions on the Ukrainian army which she described as a limitation on its sovereignty Ukraine must be able to defend itself she revealed Russia wants war and waged war multiple times in fact over the past years Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Saturday Trump declared the U S proposal was not his final offer I would like to get to peace It should have happened a long time ago The Ukraine war with Russia should have never happened Trump disclosed One way or the other we have to get it ended Trump didn t explain what he meant by the plan not being his final offer and the White House didn t respond to a request for clarification Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented Sunday that Warsaw was ready to work on the plan with the leaders of Europe Canada and Japan but also stated that it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created Specific U S lawmakers mentioned Saturday that Rubio had described the plan as a Russian wish list rather than a Washington-led proposal The bipartisan group of senators explained a news conference that they had spoken to Rubio about the peace plan after he reached out to chosen of them while on his way to Geneva Independent Maine Sen Angus King mentioned Rubio notified them the plan was not the administration s plan but a wish list of the Russians A State Department spokesperson denied their account calling it blatantly false Rubio himself then took the extraordinary step of suggesting online that the senators were mistaken even though they stated he was their source for the information The secretary of state doubled down on the assertion that Washington was responsible for a proposal that had surprised plenty of from the beginning for being so favorable to Moscow Associated Press writers Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw Poland and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this document Follow AP s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine Source
