GENEVA, NOV 23 (AFP/APP): US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Geneva Sunday morning for discussions on a US plan to end the Ukraine war, after Washington signalled room for negotiation on the controversial proposal.
Trump has given Ukraine until November 27 to approve the plan to end the nearly four-year conflict, but Kyiv is seeking changes to a draft that accepts some of Russia’s hardline demands.
Rubio, whose reported comments about the plan have thrown an extraordinary element of confusion into efforts to negotiate an end to the war, landed shortly before 9:30 am (0830 GMT), according to AFP journalists on site.
Ukrainian, European and Canadian officials were also gathering in the Swiss city, although the format for the talks remained unclear.
The US plan to end the Ukraine war has drawn pushback from Kyiv, its allies and US lawmakers ahead of Sunday talks.
The 28-point plan would require the invaded country to cede territory, cut its army and pledge never to join NATO. Trump told reporters Saturday it was not his final offer and he hoped to stop the fighting “one way or the other”.
Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, speaking on Fox News, described the plan as “a work in progress”.
Ukraine’s European allies, who were not included in drafting the proposal, said the plan requires “additional work” as they scrambled at the G20 summit in South Africa to come up with a counter-offer to strengthen Kyiv’s position.
Washington meanwhile insisted Saturday the proposal was official US policy, denying claims by a group of US senators that Rubio told them the document was a Russian “wish list”.
Rubio himself insisted on social media late Saturday that “the peace proposal was authored by the US”.
“It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
