Ukraine

LONDON — President Trump’s efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war closely mirrors the tactics he used to end two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas: bold terms that favor one side, deadlines for the combatants and vague outlines for what comes next. The details — enforcing the terms, guaranteeing security, who pays for rebuilding — matter less.

“You know what the deadline is to me? When it’s over.” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Tuesday.

The formula has worked so far in the tense Middle East, though its long-term viability remains in question. Trump got his moment to claim credit for “peace” in the region from the podium of the Israeli parliament. Even there, he made clear that next on his priority list was resolving the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

“Maybe we set out like a 20-point peace proposal, just like we did in Gaza,” U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser in a phone call the day after Trump’s speech, on Oct. 14. A recording of that call leaked to Bloomberg News.

They did just that, issuing a 28-point plan heavily tilted toward Russia’s interests that set off alarms in Europe, which had not been consulted. Trump insisted Ukraine had until Nov. 27 — Thanksgiving in the U.S. — to accept it.

But by Tuesday, Trump had eased off the hard deadline. It seemed clear, even to Trump, that the Israel-Gaza model doesn’t fully apply in Russia and Ukraine as long as Putin refuses to be flattered, pushed or otherwise moved to take the first step of a ceasefire, as Israel and Hamas consented for different reasons on Oct. 9. Making the point, Putin launched waves of bombings on Ukraine Tuesday and Wednesday even as American negotiators renewed Trump’s push to end the war.

“I thought (a Russia-Ukraine deal) would have been an easier one, but I think we’re making progress,” Trump said during the annual White House turkey pardon to mark the Thanksgiving holiday. Hours later, he told reporters that the 28-point plan actually “was not a plan, just a concept.”

The president’s goal may not be a formal, long-lasting peace treaty, one expert said.

“Trump’s approach emphasizes the proclamation of a ceasefire, not its observance,” Mariia Zolkina, a political analyst at the Kyiv-based Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, wrote on Liga.net, a Ukrainian news outlet, adding: “Donald Trump is not interested in whether the ceasefire will be sustainable.”

Similarities to the tactics and style used in the Israel-Gaza talks

Fresh off the Gaza deal and coveting the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump named his next priority before he’d even left the Israeli Knesset.

“If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first, All right?” Trump said, turning to Witkoff.

Where the Gaza ceasefire agreement had 20 points, the Russia-Ukraine proposal would start with 28 items and include more detail on who would pay for reconstruction. They envision “peace” boards headed by the president to lead and administer the aftermath. Both lack detail on incentives for complying and enforcement. And both depend on a ceasefire.

Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre think tank, said the proposals for Gaza and Ukraine show a kind of “naivete by believing that by intervening at that level, by imposing your will on something like this, that you will reach some form of long-term conclusion.”

He said both proposals reflect Trump’s political and personal self-interest.

“In the end, the focus is solely on what Trump thinks he will get out of this in terms of reputation and money,” Zuleeg said.

Each Trump administration plan to end the wars heavily favor one side.

The Trump plan for Gaza leans to Israeli terms. It makes disarming Hamas a central condition for any progress in rebuilding the devastated territory. It also lays out no strict timetable for a full Israeli troop withdrawal, making it conditional on deployment of an international security force.

For Russia and Ukraine, Witkoff looked to open peace plan talks with terms skewing toward Russia. He quietly hosted Kirill Dmitriev, a close ally of Putin’s, for talks in south Florida to help launch the plan that opened talks in Geneva, according to a senior administration official and a U.S. official familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The White House insists that the plan was U.S.-authored with input from both the Ukrainians and Russians.

But that’s where the similarities end. The differences are buy-in — and Putin

The draft that was formally presented to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decidedly favored the Russians, with no European input. In contrast, the Gaza ceasefire talks got buy-in from Egypt, Qatari, Jordanian, Saudi and other regional powers.

The 28-point Russia-Ukraine plan called for Ukraine to give up land in the industrial Donbas region that the Russians currently don’t control and dramatically shrink the size of its military. It also effectively gave Russia oversight of both NATO and EU expansion. The draft has narrowed by a few points since it was first presented, and Trump is sending his envoys on a bit of shuttle diplomacy to “sell it,” as he said. He said Witkoff will visit Moscow next week — perhaps joined by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was also involved in the Gaza plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will meet with the Ukranians.

European leaders worried that Trump is leaving them out of high-level discussions and vulnerable to Russian aggression.

“He appears perfectly ready to sacrifice Ukraine’s security and Europe’s in the process,” Hannah Neumann, a German member of the European Parliament, said of Trump on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisted Trump’s pressure to agree to a ceasefire, for a time. But Putin refuses to concede anything on Ukraine.

He’s appeared to be considering the matter, notably when Trump rolled out a red carpet for the Russian leader at a summer summit in Alaska — an old front line of the Cold War. Trump left without an agreement from Putin to end the bloodshed. The Russian leader walked off with long-sought recognition on the world stage.

To the horror of Ukraine and the vexation of Trump, Putin has stood firm.

As the envoys flew home from Geneva last week without any agreement, the White House scrambled to explain. One U.S. official argued that the 28-page plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede the Donbas region and bar Ukraine from joining NATO, represents considerable concessions from Putin because he would be agreeing to give up on his claim, once and for all, that all of Ukraine should be part of Russia.

Putin, the official noted, has long grumbled that the West doesn’t respect Russia’s position in the global world order. The official added that the Trump White House in its approach is not affirming Putin’s position but trying to reflect the Russian perspective is given its due in the emerging peace plan.

It’s not for the administration to judge Putin’s positions, the official said, but it does have “to understand them if we want to get to a deal.”

Kellman, McNeil and Madhani write for the Associated Press. McNeil reported from Brussels and Madhani from Washington. AP writer Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this report.

Nov. 26 (UPI) — Amid a U.S.-push to end the war in Ukraine, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week for talks on a proposed peace deal, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

The announcement from Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, who said preliminary agreement for the visit had been struck, came a day after Ukraine said it had reached a “common understanding” with the White House on a revised version of a 28-point plan floated by Trump last week.

Ushakov said Putin would “definitely” meet with Witkoff if he came, the state-run Tass news agency reported, on what would be his sixth visit to the Kremlin in nine months.

However, he said Russia was not in formal receipt of the peace plan for Ukraine, but had a copy obtained unofficially.

Ushakov said there were several versions, which caused some confusion, but said he believed “we have some of the latest versions.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday night, Trump said the plan had been “fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides,” and that they were going to keep talking.

“They’re talking about [exchanging] land going both ways and cleaning up the border,” he said, adding that frontiers that ran through a house or the middle of a highway or a town were not feasible, making nailing down final details a complex process “that doesn’t go that quickly.”

Trump said the issue of security guarantees was being worked out with the Europeans, whom he said would be involved to a very significant degree.

He said that while he wanted an agreement finalized quickly, there was no longer a deadline.

“I don’t have a deadline. You know what the deadline for me is? When it’s over.”

Trump had originally set a deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to sign the original deal drawn up with Russia, which he now said was not a plan but a roadmap or “a concept.”

Trump said that Witkoff might be accompanied on the trip by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, but said that had yet to be confirmed. He confirmed Kushner, a key player in getting Trump’s Gaza peace plan over the line last month, was involved in the process.

News of Witkoff’s visit came after a leaked transcript of a call with Ushakov in which he appeared to coach his Russian counterpart on how to get on the good side of Trump.

Trump dismissed suggestions that Witkoff was favoring Russia, saying that while he hadn’t heard what had been said, it sounded like typical negotiation tactics and that other members of his team would be doing the same with Ukraine.

“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to ‘sell’ Ukraine to Russia. That’s what a dealmaker does. You got to say, ‘You got this, they want this. You got to convince them of this.’ You know, that a very standard form of negotiation,” said Trump.

US President Donald Trump is sending senior negotiators to meet Vladimir Putin to push for a deal to end Russia’s war with Ukraine. Special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow next week, with Jared Kushner also involved in the process.

Here are the key events from day 1,371 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Wednesday, November 26.

Fighting

• Russian attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv killed seven people and injured 21, the state emergency service said in a post on Facebook on Tuesday. Emergency services also pulled at least 18 people from the rubble, officials said.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and surrounding areas caused “extensive damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure”.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that Russian forces launched a “massive strike” targeting military installations in Ukraine, including “defence industry facilities, energy facilities and drone storage sites”, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.
• A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Krasnodar region injured at least nine people, TASS reported, citing the regional task force.
• A Ukrainian attack left about 40,000 people without electricity in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, a Moscow-installed official in the region, said in a post on Telegram.
• Ukrainian battlefield analysis site DeepState said that Russian forces have advanced near the city of Siversk and the villages of Novoselivka, Zatyshya, Novoekonomichne and Myroliubivka in the east of the country.
• Russian forces shot down four long-range missiles and 419 drones launched by Ukrainian forces in a 24-hour period, TASS reported, citing Russia’s Defence Ministry.

Peace plan

• United States President Donald Trump said that “tremendous progress” had been made in negotiations on a peace plan, with “only a few remaining points of disagreement” remaining.
• In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump added that he had directed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and his army secretary, Dan Driscoll, to meet at the same time with Ukrainian officials “in the hopes of finalising this Peace Plan”.
• Trump later on Tuesday backed away from his earlier deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to agree to the US-backed peace plan, saying “the deadline for me is when it’s over”.
• President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, later said he had spoken to Driscoll on the phone and expected him in Kyiv this week, adding: “We are ready to continue working as quickly as possible to finalise the steps necessary to end the bloodshed.”
• In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he hopes to see “continued active cooperation with the American side and President Trump”, noting that “much depends on the United States because it’s America’s strength that Russia takes most seriously”.
• The latest update on the peace talks came as representatives from the US, Ukraine and European countries met in Geneva to continue talks on ending the war.
• The United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement after the meeting, saying that “meaningful progress” had been made and that they had agreed for their militaries to begin “planning on security guarantees”. However, they also reiterated that any resolution to the war should preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and its long-term security.
• They also confirmed that long-term financing will be made available for Ukraine, including the use of frozen Russian assets to fund reconstruction.
• Ukraine’s Deputy Presidential Chief Ihor Zhovkva met with the European Commission’s Gert Jan Koopman to discuss progress on European Union membership. The proposed peace plan reportedly leaves the door open for Ukraine to join the EU, but not NATO.

Ukraine says it supports the “essence” of a United States plan to end its war with Russia, as US President Donald Trump said “progress” is being made on securing a deal and that he would dispatch his special envoy to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Tuesday saw a flurry of diplomatic activity after US and Ukrainian negotiators met two days earlier in Geneva to discuss Trump’s initial peace plan, which had been seen in Ukraine as a Russian wish list calling on Kyiv to cede territory to Moscow, limit its military and give up on joining NATO.

The plan has since been modified, with the emerging proposal reportedly accomodating concerns of Ukraine and its European allies.

Speaking at a video conference of the so-called coalition of the willing – a group of 30 countries supporting Ukraine – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to “move forward” with the as-yet-unpublished “framework”, though he still needed to address “sensitive points”.

Earlier, a Ukrainian official had told the Reuters news agency that Kyiv supported “the framework’s essence”. Building on that sense of momentum, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, who led negotiations in Geneva, told US news website Axios that the security guarantees Ukraine was seeking looked “very solid”.

Speaking at the White House, Trump conceded that resolving the Ukraine war was “not easy”, but added, “We’re getting close to a deal.”

“I thought that would be an easier [deal], but I think we’re making progress,” he said.

Taking to his Truth Social platform later on, he said that he would send envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to iron out “a few” remaining differences over the deal.

He said he hoped to meet “soon” with Putin and Zelenskyy, “but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages”.

Russia, which had hammered Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with a deadly barrage of missiles the previous night, seemed unconvinced of progress.

Russia has not yet seen the modified plan, which remains unpublished, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that it should reflect the “spirit and letter” of an understanding reached between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their Alaska summit earlier this year.

“If the spirit and letter of Anchorage is erased in terms of the key understandings we have established, then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation [for Russia],” Lavrov warned.

Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said there was a lot of “uncertainty” at the Kremlin, though there had allegedly been “behind-the-scenes interactions” between Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and US counterpart Steve Witkoff, “who reportedly worked on the initial stage” of Trump’s plan.

The Russian side, she said, was not happy about revisions to the peace plan.

“Unlike the initial American plan presented by Donald Trump, which consisted of 28 points, the so-called European version doesn’t include withdrawing the Ukrainian armed forces from Donbas, it allows Kyiv to join NATO, and it doesn’t limit the size of its armed forces,” Shapovalova said.

Still, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll had earlier emerged upbeat from meeting with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, with his spokesman saying: “The talks are going well and we remain optimistic.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that there were “a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out and will require further talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States”.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said it was “unclear when those talks will happen, who will be involved, and what they will look like”. But, she added, it was clear they would not be imminent, given the upcoming American Thanksgiving holiday on November 27.

Macron urges ‘pressure’ on Putin

As the US strained to bridge the gap between Ukraine and Russia, leaders in the coalition of the willing, who have pledged to underwrite and guarantee any ceasefire, moved fast on security guarantees and a reconstruction plan for Ukraine.

In the video meeting, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in attendance, the leaders decided to set up a task force between the US and coalition countries to “solidify” security guarantees.

Trump has not committed to providing back-up for a post-ceasefire “reassurance force” for Ukraine. The plan for the force involves European allies training Ukrainian troops and providing sea and air support, but would be reliant on US military muscle to work.

Speaking after the video call, Macron said discussions in Geneva had shown that there should be no limitations to the Ukrainian army, contrary to what had been outlined in the initial draft of the US plan.

He also said a decision on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction, at the heart of a political and legal impasse in a Europe seeking funding for Ukraine, would be “finalised in the coming days” with the European Commission.

Western countries froze approximately $300bn in Russian assets in 2022, mostly in Belgium, but there has been no consensus on how to proceed. Some support seizing the assets, while others, like Belgium, remain cautious owing to legal concerns.

According to reports, Trump’s plan would split the assets between reconstruction and US-Russia investments.

Macron hit out at Russia, saying “continued pressure” should be put on Moscow to negotiate. “On the ground, the reality is quite the opposite of a willingness for peace,” he said, alluding to Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, which left seven dead and disrupted power and heating systems.

In his daily evening address, Zelenskyy said: “What is especially cynical is that Russia carried out such strikes while talks are under way on how to end the war”.

Eldar Mamedov, a fellow at Quincy Institute, says given the history of Baltic states under Soviet rule, many fear more aggression from Russia if Ukraine is forced to give up land.

Russian forces have launched a drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, killing at least one person, as officials from Ukraine and the United States sought to rework a plan proposed by Washington to end the war.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the overnight attack on Kyiv damaged residential buildings in the Pecherskyi and Dniprovskyi districts.

“In Kyiv, as a result of a night attack, two people were killed, six were injured, and 18 people were rescued, including three children,” the service said.

Another attack on Brovarsky, Bila Tserkva and Vyshgorod districts, hours later, wounded a 14-year-old child, it added.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The attack followed talks between US and Ukrainian representatives in Switzerland’s Geneva to thrash out Washington’s so-called 28-point plan, which Kyiv and its European allies saw as a Kremlin wish list.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly address late on Monday, said the talks in Geneva mean the “list of the necessary steps to end the war can become doable”.

But he said there remained “sensitive issues” that he will discuss with US President Donald Trump

“After Geneva, there are fewer points – no longer 28 – and many of the right elements have been taken into account in this framework. There is still work for all of us to do together – it is very challenging – to finalise the document, and we must do everything with dignity,” he said.

“Ukraine will never be an obstacle to peace – this is our principle, a shared principle, and millions of Ukrainians are counting on, and deserve, a dignified peace,” he added.

No Trump-Zelenskyy meeting scheduled

Trump, too, hinted at new progress.

“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,” the US president wrote earlier on Monday on his Truth Social platform.

At the White House, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there were a couple of points of disagreement remaining, but “we’re confident that we’ll be able to work through those.”

She said Trump wanted a deal as quickly as possible, but there was no meeting currently scheduled between the US president and Zelenskyy.

Trump, who returned to office this year pledging to end the war quickly, has reoriented US policy from staunch support for Kyiv towards accepting some of Russia’s justifications for its 2022 invasion.

US policy towards the war has been inconsistent. Trump’s hastily arranged Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August led to worries that Washington was prepared to accept many Russian demands, but ultimately resulted in more US pressure on Russia.

The latest, 28-point peace proposal again caught many in the US government, Kyiv and Europe off-guard and prompted new concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal heavily tilted towards Moscow.

The plan would require Kyiv to cede more territory, accept curbs on its military and bar it from ever joining NATO, conditions Kyiv has long rejected as tantamount to surrender.

It would also do nothing to allay broader European fears of further Russian aggression.

Ukraine’s European allies drew up a counter-proposal which, according to the Reuters news agency, would halt fighting at the present front lines, leaving discussions of territory for later, and include a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine.

A new version of a draft worked on in Geneva has not been published.

Kremlin slams EU proposal

An adviser to Zelenskyy who attended the talks in Geneva told The Associated Press news agency 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.

Oleksandr Bevz also said the US showed “great openness and understanding” that security guarantees are the cornerstone of any agreement for Ukraine.

He said the US would continue working on the plan, and then the leaders of Ukraine and the US would meet. After that, the plan would be presented to Russia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking to reporters, welcomed the “interim result” of the Geneva talks, saying the US proposal “has now been modified in significant parts”, without details.

Merz added that 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.”

The Kremlin said it had yet to see the revised peace plan.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added there was no plan for US and Russian delegations to meet this week, but the Russian side remained “open for such contacts”.

Yuri Ushakov, 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. But he described European proposals “floating around” as “completely unconstructive”.

Countries supporting Kyiv – part of the “coalition of the willing” – are meanwhile due to hold a video call on Tuesday following the Geneva talks.

Turkiye also said it hopes to build bridges between Russia and Ukraine.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said he spoke to Putin by telephone and told him Ankara will contribute to any diplomatic effort to facilitate direct contact between Russia and Ukraine.

Erdogan “stated that Turkiye will continue its efforts for the termination of the Russia-Ukraine war with a fair and lasting peace”, his office said.

Here are the key events from day 1,370 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Tuesday, November 25.

Trump’s plan

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a proposed peace plan now under discussion with the United States and Europe has incorporated “correct” points, but sensitive issues still need to be discussed with US President Donald Trump.
• Zelenskyy added that if negotiations proceeded on resolving the war, “there must be no missiles, no massive strikes on Ukraine and our people”.
• Trump also hinted at new progress in the talks, which took place 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,” he wrote on Truth Social.
• A senior official told the AFP news agency that the US pressed Ukraine to accept the deal in Geneva, despite Kyiv’s protests that the plan conceded too much to Moscow. The official said Washington did not directly threaten to cut off aid if Kyiv rejected its deal, but that Ukraine understood this was a distinct possibility.
• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that there is no meeting scheduled between Trump and Zelenskyy this week amid reports of a possible trip by the Ukrainian leader to the US capital.
• Leavitt told US broadcaster Fox News that “a couple of points of disagreement” remain between the US and Ukraine on a potential deal to end Russia’s invasion.
• Leavitt also pushed back against criticism, including from within Trump’s Republican Party, that the president is favouring Russia in efforts to end the war in Ukraine, describing those statements as “complete and total fallacy”. She said the US president was “hopeful and optimistic” that a plan could be worked out.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would wait to see how talks between the US and Ukraine on a potential peace plan pan out, and would not be commenting on media reports about such a serious and complex issue.
• But Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said that a European counter-proposal to a US 28-point peace plan for Ukraine was “not constructive” and that it simply did not work for Moscow.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there was more work to do to establish a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, but added that progress was being made.
• Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, too, welcomed progress made at the meetings in Geneva, but added that major issues remain to be resolved.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said no deal regarding Ukraine can be allowed to undermine the security of Poland and Europe; on the contrary, it should strengthen it.
• German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that the talks in Geneva on amending Trump’s 28-point plan to end the war with Russia had produced a “decisive success” for Europeans. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said that to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine, its borders can’t be changed by force and there can’t be limitations on Ukraine’s military that would invite further Russian aggression.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a phone call that Ankara will contribute to any diplomatic effort to facilitate direct contact between Russia and Ukraine and to reach a “just and lasting” peace, his office said.

Fighting

• Powerful explosions rocked Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on Tuesday as the Ukrainian air force issued a warning about missile attacks across the country.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said the country’s air defences shot down 10 drones en route to Moscow, a day after a Ukrainian strike on a power plant cut off heating in a town near the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were clearing up sites where debris from drones had fallen.
• The Defence Ministry added that a total of 50 Ukrainian drones were downed across the Moscow, Bryansk, Kaluga and Kursk regions, as well as Crimea and over the waters of the Black Sea.

Politics

• Polish prosecutors have arrested and charged a third Ukrainian man suspected of collaborating with Russia to sabotage a rail track, authorities said. Two other Ukrainians, who fled to Belarus, had already been charged in absentia over the blast on the Warsaw-Lublin line connecting Warsaw to the Ukrainian border.

• Two young street musicians who were jailed for more than a month in Russia for singing anti-Kremlin songs have left the country after being released from detention, according to Russian media reports. Vocalist Diana Loginova, 18, and guitarist Alexander Orlov, 22, were detained on October 15 in central St Petersburg after an impromptu street performance deemed critical of Putin and the government.

Energy

• Oil prices climbed about 1 percent on mounting doubts about whether Russia will get a peace deal with Ukraine that will boost Moscow’s oil exports. Brent futures rose 81 cents, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $63.37 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 78 cents, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $58.84.

• Four opposition Democratic US senators, including Elizabeth Warren, said that the lax enforcement by the Trump administration of sanctions on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 export terminal has allowed China to buy discounted liquefied natural gas and has helped Moscow fund the war in Ukraine.

• A heating and power plant in Russia’s Moscow region has resumed operations after shutting down due to a fire caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday, regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said.

• Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse resumed oil product exports last week after a two-week suspension following Ukrainian drone attacks, while the local oil refinery has restarted processing crude, the Reuters news agency reported, citing industry sources and data.

• Russian state oil and gas revenue may fall in November by about 35 percent from the corresponding month in 2024 to 520 billion roubles ($6.59bn) due to cheaper oil and a stronger local currency, according to calculations and analysis by Reuters.

The Trump administration’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine took another turn today, this time with a revised deal reportedly more favorable to Ukraine than an earlier iteration. Meanwhile, Kyiv continues to lose ground at several points across the 600-mile front lines.

A new plan introduced on Monday reportedly eliminates some, but not all of Ukraine’s major concerns, with a 28-point plan unveiled last week. The revised document was hammered out over the weekend by the U.S. delegation, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and a Ukrainian team, led by the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak. The updated peace proposal now contains 19 provisions.

As with the previous peace plan, we cannot independently verify the details of this latest one, which could be preliminary, subject to change, and/or not reported in the proper context.

The reported details of the original 28-point plan that emerged last week were highly controversial, seemingly lopsided in favor of Russia and raised concerns across Europe and even among Ukraine’s staunch Republican supporters in Congress. The backlash was so great that Rubio reportedly assured the lawmakers that the leaked version did not represent the Trump administration’s position. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly drafted that plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, the Trump administration’s top negotiator, on Friday warned that Washington would show little flexibility.

“We are not negotiating details,” he said, Financial Times wrote, citing a senior European official in the meeting at the Kyiv residence of US chargé d’affaires, Julie Davis

Monday’s version of the plan appears to be more amenable to Kyiv.

“Many of the controversial provisions were either softened or at least reshaped” to get closer to a Ukrainian position, said Oleksandr Bevz, an adviser to Yermak who participated in the Geneva summit, The Washington Post reported. “By Monday, while not all the language in the draft was considered entirely ‘acceptable’ to Kyiv, the text was revised to a point that it can at least ‘be considered, whereas before it was an ultimatum,’” Bevz said.

The U.S. had reportedly threatened to cut all support if the deal wasn’t accepted.

“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,” the White House said in a statement Sunday night. “They expressed appreciation for the structured approach taken to incorporate their feedback into each component of the emerging settlement framework.”

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 statement continued. “They underscored that the strengthened security guarantee architecture, combined with commitments on non-aggression, energy stability, and reconstruction, meaningfully addresses their core strategic requirements.”

Among other measures, the U.S. seemed willing to remove a Russian demand to limit Ukraine’s military to 600,000 troops. 

However, the biggest sticking point remains. according to reports.

The aforementioned 28-point proposal would have seen Ukraine give up a considerable amount of territory in the east, including land it still controls. That is not something the Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky appears willing to accept, even with the stick of reduced or eliminated support from Washington.

The Ukrainian leader has said his country could face a stark choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving the American support it needs,” The Associated Press noted. “The proposal acquiesced to many Russian demands that Zelensky has categorically rejected on dozens of occasions, including giving up large pieces of territory,” the AP reported.

The Ukrainian leader has vowed that his people “will always defend” their home.

On Monday, Zelensky seemed hopeful that peace could be achieved, but he didn’t specifically address Russia’s lingering demand for land concessions.

“Today our delegation returned from Geneva after negotiations with the American side and European partners, and now the list of necessary steps to end the war can become workable,” Zelensky explained on Telegram. “As of now, after Geneva, there are fewer points, no longer 28, and much of the right has been taken into account in this framework.”

“There is still work to be done together – it is very difficult – to make the final document, and everything must be done properly,” the Ukrainian leader continued. “And we appreciate that most of the world is ready to help us and the American side is constructive. In fact, the whole day yesterday was meetings; it was a difficult, extremely detailed work.”

“I discuss the sensitive issues with President Trump,” Zelensky added.

However, there is no meeting scheduled between the two leaders, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.

The White House, she said, feels “optimistic” about the president’s proposed peace plan to end the war in Russia. The plan has input from both Russia and Ukraine.

Leavitt also stated that the U.S., which has been selling arms to NATO, ultimately bound for Ukraine, cannot keep that up.

Meanwhile, European nations also introduced their own 28-point peace proposal. Russia, for its part, seems more amenable to the American version.

“Yuri Ushakov, a veteran foreign policy aide to the Russian leader, told reporters in Moscow that the EU’s peace plan, launched in response to the 28-point plan presented by Washington, ‘constructively doesn’t fit us at all,’” Politico reported. “Ushakov added that Trump’s plan, which included several major concessions to Russia, including ceding vast swathes of Ukrainian territory and capping the size of Kyiv’s military, was more ‘acceptable’ to the Kremlin.”

Amid the flurry of diplomatic moves, Russia continues to slowly grind up Ukrainian territory, albeit at a tremendous cost in personnel and equipment.

“Russian forces have broken through Ukrainian defenses north of Huliaipole, creating a rapidly expanding threat to one of Ukraine’s most fortified positions in Zaporizhzhia Oblast,” Euromaidan Press reported on Sunday. “The breakthrough has prompted Ukrainian forces to reposition for a high-stakes defensive battle along the Zarichne River.”

Russian forces broke through Ukrainian defenses north of Huliaipole after capturing Uspenivka, the key Ukrainian strongpoint on the western bank of the Yanchul River. The breakthrough came after Russia concentrated approximately 40,000 troops on the position and fired over 400… pic.twitter.com/fJ7bpBiKnp

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) November 23, 2025

The community, which had a population of about 14,000 in 2016, was originally created in the 1770s as a military bulwark against invading forces. Huliaipole is once again fighting to ward off an encroaching enemy and is “the largest and most fortified Ukrainian stronghold in the region,” Euromaidan Press explained.

The Russians have amassed a force of about 40,000 troops, the publication claimed, adding that they are attacking from the north to try and encircle Ukrainian forces and avoid a costly head-on attack.

Russian troops reached the western outskirts of the settlement of Zatyshshia, 2,5km from the northern entrance to the town of Huliaipole, located on the Zaporizhzhia front.

📍47.691444, 36.304132 pic.twitter.com/4dxPnD1MaK

— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) November 24, 2025

“Ukrainian defenders repelled seven attacks by the occupiers near the settlements of Zelenyi Hai, Zatyshshia, Solodke, and towards Varvarivka and Dobropillia,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff claimed on Monday. “Two clashes are still ongoing. In addition, enemy aviation struck the settlements of Huliaipole and Zaliznychne.”

For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry MoD) claimed it captured a small community about a mile and a half north of Huliaipole 

The “liberation of Zatishye has strengthened the position of the Vostok Group of Forces and has become an important step towards further progress in this direction,” the Russian MoD stated on Telegram.

Meanwhile, about 60 miles to the northeast in the hotly contested Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces are still holding out in the embattled city of Pokrovsk; however, “Russian forces will very likely complete the seizure of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad,” according to the latest Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessment. 

Another 60 miles northeast of Pokrovsk, the Russians are also pushing closer to the town of Siversk, according to ISW.

“Ukrainian 11th Army Corps (AC) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Dmytro Zaporozhets reported on November 23 that Russian forces are the most active in the Slovyansk direction and are attacking more specifically toward Siversk,” ISW explained.

“While attention is focused on Huliaipole and Pokrovsk, systemic problems are arising in other directions as well,” Ukrainian activist and noted milblogger Serhii Sternenko posited on Telegram. “Another front line where the crisis will soon become noticeable is Siversk/Yampil. I won’t write the details publicly. In short — the same set of problems as in other areas + increasingly active enemy drone operations against our logistics.”

Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate, recently suggested that Russia plans to occupy all of Donetsk by next spring

While Budanov called that aspiration “unrealistic,” the ongoing peace process, if successful, could make that a moot point. However, given the tumultuous nature of the negotiations, Russia’s unwavering demands, and Ukraine’s continuing battlefield losses, that’s a pretty big if.

Contact the author: [email protected]

European allies of Ukraine have given a cautious welcome to efforts to refine a United States peace proposal initially criticised for appearing to be weighted in favour of Russia’s maximalist demands.

The leaders Germany, Finland, Poland and the United Kingdom were among those agreeing on Monday that progress had been made in the previous day’s talks between Washington and Kyiv in Geneva that yielded what the US and Ukraine called a “refined peace framework”.

Still, the European leaders stressed work remained to be done.

“It was possible to clear up some questions, but we also know that there won’t be peace in Ukraine overnight,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, adding that the peace plan initially drafted by the US had been “modified in significant parts”.

He welcomed the “interim result”.

“The next step must be that Russia must come to the table,” he said from 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.”

US President Donald Trump had blindsided Kyiv and its European countries last week with a 28-point peace plan criticised by some as a Russian wish list that called for Ukraine to cede more territory, accept limits on its military and abandon its ambitions to join NATO.

Britain, France and Germany responded by drawing up a counter-proposal that would cease fighting at present front lines, leaving discussions of territory for later, and include a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine, according to a draft seen by Reuters news agency.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that 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.

The German Foreign Office said that chief diplomats of Germany, Finland, France, the UK, Italy and Poland consulted Monday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha on further steps toward ending the war.

Also attending the summit in Angola, European Council President Antonio Costa said there was “new momentum” in negotiations.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union would “engage further tomorrow with our partners from the coalition of the willing”.

‘Big progress’

On Monday, Trump indicated Sunday’s talks had gone well.

“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,” the US President wrote on Truth Social.

Trump had given Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is under the doubled pressure of Russia’s continued advance on the front line and a corruption scandal that has tainted his administration, until Thursday to agree to a framework to end the war. He also accused Zelenskyy of showing “zero gratitude” for peace efforts.

Zelenskyy said on X on Monday that he was expecting a full report that evening on the Geneva talks.

“To achieve real peace, more, more is needed. Of course, we all continue working with partners, especially the United States, and look for compromises that strengthen but not weaken us,” he said.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said on Monday that negotiations were a “delicate matter” since “no one wants to discourage Americans and President Trump from having the United States on our side in this process”.

The Kremlin said it had not been informed of the results of the Geneva talks, but that it was aware that “adjustments” were made to the US proposal.

In a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated his view that the initial US plan could “serve as a basis for a final peace settlement”.

During the call, Erdogan said Turkiye was ready to support efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine together, including helping to facilitate direct talks between the two.

However, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the European plan appeared “entirely unconstructive and unsuitable for us”, according to a report in the Russian state-run TASS news agency.

Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said Russia was unlikely to accept the European revisions.

“If all Russian conditions and interests are not taken into account, Russia is ready to continue fighting because, according to Vladimir Putin, Russia is pretty successful on the battlefield and it wants to achieve its goals,” she said.

In comments made by video to a meeting at the Swedish Parliament, Zelenskyy had indicated that territory would still be a key sticking point, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of seeking “legal recognition for what he has stolen”.

Grim reality

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has decimated the east of the country, forcing millions to flee their homes, ravaging towns and cities, and killing tens of thousands in Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.

On Monday, the war continued to grind on, with Russian forces keeping up their deadly and devastating strikes on civilian areas while making battlefield advances in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhia region.

Russian drones hit residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city overnight, killing four people and wounding 13, including two children, authorities said.

On Monday, Russian forces struck the city of Pavlohrad in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region with drones, wounding three people and damaging industrial facilities, according to regional authorities.

That morning, Russian shelling killed a 61-year-old woman in Kherson, according to the military administration of the city in southern Ukraine.

Across the border, Russian air defences downed Ukrainian drones en route to Moscow, forcing three airports serving the capital to pause flights.

A reported Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday knocked power out for thousands of residents near Moscow, a rare reversal of Russian attacks on energy targets that regularly cause power blackouts for millions of Ukrainians.

Talks in Geneva between the US and Ukraine aimed at ending the war with Russia have concluded, with officials from both sides reporting “progress” and an intention to continue working.

However, no details have emerged on how to bridge the considerable divide between Moscow and Kyiv over territorial issues and security guarantees for Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the “important steps” that had been made but warned that the “main problem” facing the peace talks was Vladimir Putin’s demand for legal recognition of Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine.

“This would break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he said, highlighting concerns that Moscow could be rewarded for its aggression with land it seized by force.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump suggested on social media that “something good just may be happening”, but with the caveat: “Don’t believe it until you see it.”

The Geneva talks did not involve Russian representatives and the Kremlin said it hadn’t received any information on the outcome of the discussions. Spokesman Dmitri Peskov noted Moscow was aware that “adjustments” were made to the plan that had been welcomed by Putin.

A 28-point peace plan drafted by US and Russian officials was presented to Ukraine last week. Several of its elements seemed heavily geared towards Moscow’s longstanding demands, sparking consternation in Kyiv and its European allies.

Comments by Trump which suggested Ukraine had until Thursday to accept the deal or face serious cuts in US support contributed to creating a sense of urgency across Europe and talks between Ukraine and US officials were hastily convened.

By Sunday evening US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a “tremendous” amount of progress had been made at the talks. “I honestly believe we’ll get there,” he said.

But some European leaders have been more cautious. “I am not sure if we are closer to peace,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said discussions would be a “lengthy, long-lasting process” and that he did not expect any breakthroughs this week.

Europeans were left scrambling for a seat at the table last week, after they were seemingly caught unawares when the US draft peace plan was presented.

A counter-proposal – reportedly drafted by Britain, France and Germany – excluded any recognition of Russian-held regions, raised Ukraine’s allowed army size and left the door open to Ukraine joining Nato.

Rubio said he was not aware of the plan and on Monday Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov rubbished it as “completely unconstructive”.

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has consistently demanded full Ukrainian withdrawal from the whole of the eastern Donbas region.

But Kyiv and its European partners are weary of any settlement which would jeopardise the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty – and Zelensky has repeatedly warned that giving up the Donbas would leave Ukraine vulnerable to Russian attacks in the future.

Despite last week’s frenzied diplomacy the next steps in the process are unclear.

The expectation is that Zelensky will soon personally speak to Trump, after which a new draft peace plan will be eventually presented to Moscow. There were no plans for a meeting this week between Russian and US negotiators, the Kremlin said.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said there was still work to do for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine. A virtual “coalition of the willing” meeting will take place on Tuesday to discuss developments, he added.

Nov. 23 (UPI) — Talks between the United States and Ukraine in Switzerland have been the “most productive and meaningful so far,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.

Officials from both countries are meeting in Switzerland as the United States works to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine in the latest chapter of war between the two counties, which has dragged on since early 2022.

Ukrainian and Russian officials have presented the draft of a 28-point plan aimed at ending the war. President Donald Trump has said he wants Ukraine to agree to the deal by Thursday, the BBC reported.

The plan suggests that Russia could be given more Ukrainian territory than it currently holds, puts limits on Ukraine’s army and prevents Ukraine from even becoming a member of NATO. These conditions hew very closely to Moscow’s demands for peace.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a social media post Sunday that European leaders stand ready to reach a deal “despite some reservations,” but said “Before we start our work, it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”

A bipartisan group U.S. Senators told reporters that Rubio told them the deal was not authored by the United States, nor was it the sole position of the Trump administration, but a proposal drafted by Russia and given to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, NBC News reported.

Sen. Angus King, I-Me., said the plan appeared to be a “wish list of the Russians.”

Later, the U.S. State Department countered that claim, called King’s words “patently false,” and said the plan was indeed, the position of the Trump administration.

“The peace proposal was authored by the U.S.,” Rubio wrote on social media Saturday night. “It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”

The plan proposes that areas of Ukraine’s Donbas region still under Ukrainian control are ceded to Russia, that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk are recognized as Russian territory by the United States and that Ukraine will reduce the number of troops in the region to 600,000.

Perhaps most controversially, the proposals also calls for Russia “to be reintegrated into the global economy” and be invited to rejoin the G8, an international forum for leaders of the world’s eight most industrialized nations.

The United States and Ukraine have announced a revised framework for ending the Russia-Ukraine war after an earlier proposal by Washington drew criticism for being too favourable to Moscow.

US and Ukrainian officials said on Sunday that they agreed that any deal to end Russia’s war should “fully uphold” Ukraine’s sovereignty as they unveiled an “updated and refined peace framework” that was scant on details.

“Both sides agreed the consultations were highly productive. The discussions showed meaningful progress toward aligning positions and identifying clear next steps,” officials said in a joint statement following talks in Geneva, adding that the sides agreed on the need for a “sustainable and just peace”.

Washington and Kyiv also reiterated their readiness to keep working together to “secure a peace that ensures Ukraine’s security, stability, and reconstruction”, the joint statement said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier on Sunday said the sides had made “tremendous” progress during the talks, though their joint statement offered no specifics for resolving the many thorny points of contention between Moscow and Kyiv.

Rubio said negotiators had made some changes to US President Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan, including around the role of NATO, to narrow the differences between the sides.

“I can tell you that the items that remain open are not insurmountable. We just need more time than what we have today. I honestly believe we’ll get there,” Rubio told reporters at the US mission in Geneva.

Rubio declined to go into specifics about the amendments to the draft proposal, including whether Kyiv had agreed to compromise on key Russian demands, such as territorial concessions.

“But I can tell you, I guess, that I feel very optimistic that we can get something done here because we made a tremendous amount of progress today,” Rubio said.

Rubio’s cautiously optimistic remarks came after Trump, who has given Ukraine until Thursday to accept his 28-point plan, had earlier accused Kyiv of being insufficiently grateful for his administration’s assistance.

“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social.

Shortly after Trump’s comments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he was grateful to the US and “personally to President Trump” for Washington’s assistance in repelling Moscow’s invasion.

Trump’s leaked blueprint for ending the war has caused consternation in Kyiv and European capitals due to its alignment with many of Moscow’s hardline demands, including that Ukraine limit the size of its military and give up Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk.

Zelenskyy said in a sombre national address last week that the plan put Ukraine in the position of having to choose between “losing dignity” or “losing a key partner”.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that any peace plan needed to respect Ukraine’s freedom to “choose its own destiny,” including to join the bloc.

“It starts with the country’s reconstruction, its integration into our Single Market and our defence industrial base, and ultimately, joining our Union,” von der Leyen said in a statement.

Asked whether a deal could be reached by Trump’s Thursday deadline, Rubio said “we want to get this done as soon as possible”.

“Obviously, we would love it to be Thursday,” he said.

Rubio said the peace plan was a “living, breathing document” and would continue to change.

The top US diplomat also said the deal would need to be presented to Moscow for its approval.

“Obviously, the Russians get a vote here,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Trump’s plan could form the basis for a final peace settlement, but warned that Moscow would advance further into Ukrainian territory if Kyiv refused to negotiate.

Here are the key events from day 1,369 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Monday, November 24.

Trump’s plan

• United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Geneva that “a tremendous amount of progress” was made during talks in the Swiss city on Sunday and that he was “very optimistic” that an agreement could be reached in “a very reasonable period of time, very soon”.
• Rubio also said that specific areas still being worked on from a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, championed by US President Donald Trump, included the role of NATO and security guarantees for Ukraine.
• Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s delegation, echoed Rubio’s sentiments, telling reporters that they made “very good progress” and were “moving forward to the just and lasting peace Ukrainian people deserve”.
• Trump had earlier posted on Truth Social saying that Ukraine was not grateful for US efforts. “UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump wrote.
• The US president’s post prompted a quick reply from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who wrote on X that his country was “grateful to the United States … and personally to President Trump” for the assistance that has been “saving Ukrainian lives”.
• Zelenskyy later said in his nightly video address that Trump’s team in Geneva was “hearing us [Ukraine]” and that talks were expected to continue into the night with “further reports” to come.
• US media outlet CBS reported that Zelenskyy could visit the US this week for direct talks with Trump, but that it would depend on the outcome in Geneva.
• French President Emanuel Macron said the European Union (EU) should continue to provide financial support for Ukraine and that he remains confident in Zelenskyy’s ability to improve his country’s track record against corruption, adding that Kyiv’s path to EU membership would require rule of law reforms.
• Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused EU leaders of deliberately prolonging the war, which he claimed Ukraine has “no chance” of winning. He also described ongoing EU support for Kyiv in the conflict as “just crazy”.

Fighting

• A “massive” Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv killed four people and wounded 12 others on Sunday, according to local officials. The wounded included two children aged 11 and 12.
• The acting head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko, said that the region experienced a “difficult day”, with repeated Russian drone and shelling attacks that killed a 42-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, and wounded at least five people.
• A Russian shelling attack killed a 40-year-old man working in a field in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, the State Emergency Service wrote in a post on Telegram.
• The governor of Russia’s Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said that a Ukrainian drone attack on the Shatura Power Station, a heat and power station ​120km (75 miles) east of the Kremlin, ignited a fire. The attack cut off heating to thousands of people, before it was later restored, Vorobyov said.
• Russia’s Federal Air Navigation Service also said temporary restrictions were in place at Moscow’s Vnukovo international airport after three Ukrainian drones headed for the capital were shot down.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says an explosion on a Polish railway line that is a key route for aid deliveries to Ukraine, including weapons transfers, was an “unprecedented act of sabotage”, pledging to find those responsible.
• Oil prices fell as loading resumed at the key Russian export hub of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea after being suspended for two days following a Ukrainian attack.

Weapons

• Ukraine and France signed an agreement for Kyiv to buy up to 100 Rafale fighter jets over the next 10 years during a meeting between Zelenskyy and Macron in Paris.

Kateryna Golizdra has been dealing with uncertainty about her legal status in the United States for six months. She hopes to endure another six months as she waits for the Trump administration to make decisions regarding a humanitarian program that allowed around 260,000 Ukrainians, displaced by the war, to live and work in the U. S. When her legal status expired in May, Golizdra became at risk of deportation, lost her job as a manager at the Ritz-Carlton that paid over $50,000, and lost her health insurance for a liver condition. She can no longer send financial support to her mother who lives in Germany.

As of March 31, nearly 200,000 Ukrainians faced similar risks due to processing delays in renewing their legal status caused by the Trump administration. The humanitarian program, which started in April 2022, was meant to offer short-term refuge to Ukrainians but is only a small part of the larger refugee crisis, with 5.9 million Ukrainian refugees globally. Golizdra is left unsure of when, or if, her legal status will be renewed, which creates a sense of ongoing anxiety about her future.

During interviews with various Ukrainian individuals affected by the temporary loss of their work permits, many shared stories of struggling financially. They reported dipping into their savings, seeking community assistance, and going into debt while they wait for updates. Some are afraid of being arrested by immigration authorities, prompting them to stay indoors or even leave the U. S. for safer locations in Canada, Europe, or South America. Returning to Ukraine is not an option for Golizdra, as her home was destroyed during the conflict.

The Trump administration halted processing applications for the humanitarian program in January, citing security concerns stemming from a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. While the program was not completely canceled, and a federal judge ordered officials to resume processing, only a tiny fraction of renewal applications have been processed since then. Additionally, a new spending package increased fees for humanitarian applications, adding to the burdens faced by these displaced individuals.

U. S. Representative Mike Quigley noted that his office has received numerous requests for help from Ukrainians in similar situations, with fears of deportation looming large for those whose applications are incomplete. Anne Smith, from the Ukraine Immigration Task Force, reported an uptick in calls from families worrying about detained relatives. This has led to chaotic interactions, with some being arrested while working or out in public.

Some Ukrainians have decided to leave the U. S. to avoid the risk of detention. Yevhenii Padafa, a software engineer, sought to renew his status but faced delays that left him without legal standing. Worrying about future complications, he tried to “self deport” using a government app that promised assistance for those voluntarily leaving the country. However, he encountered obstacles that made it difficult to relocate to a safer country. Instead, he ended up traveling to Argentina, which offers a humanitarian program, despite feeling financially strained upon arrival. He expressed the grim reality of preferring to be homeless in a foreign country rather than return to Ukraine, which is fraught with danger.

With information from Reuters

Stakeholders are gathering to start negotiations based on a text that the EU believes mostly favours Russian demands.

Senior Ukrainian, European Union, United Kingdom and United States officials will soon start talks in Geneva as ambiguity and deep-seated concerns hover over the fate of the 28-point plan put forward by Washington to end the war with Russia.

At the talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be the top representative of the administration of President Donald Trump, who has given his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to take the deal.

Rubio emphasised in a Sunday post on X before flying to Switzerland that the proposal was authored by the US.

“It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations,” he wrote. “It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”

The comments came in rejection of a claim made by a bipartisan group of veteran US senators, most focused on foreign policy, who told a panel discussion at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada that the plan is a Russian “wish list” and not the actual proposal offering Washington’s positions.

“This administration was not responsible for this release in its current form,” said Republican Mike Rounds from South Dakota, adding that “it looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with”.

State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott called the claim “blatantly false”.

The senators earlier Saturday said the plan would only “reward aggression” by Moscow and send a message to other leaders who have threatened their neighbours.

Critics of the plan have said it heavily leans into the Kremlin’s oft-repeated demands and war narrative.

The plan would stress Ukrainian sovereignty and provide a security guarantee that it will not be attacked in the future, but also includes Ukraine ceding territory and making its army smaller.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the proposal late Friday, saying it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement” if Washington can get Ukraine and its European allies on board.

Ukraine has been careful with its rhetoric, with Zelenskyy saying he will “work calmly” with the US and his Western allies to get through what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history”.

Ukraine’s European allies are not happy with the plan, either, saying the military limitations would leave Ukraine “vulnerable to future attack”, so more talks are necessary.

France, the UK and Germany, also known as the E3, will have national security advisers at the Geneva talks.

The troubled US-led diplomatic efforts are inching forward as intense fighting continues to rage in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces are pushing to take control of more territory in Zaporizhia and in Donetsk, part of the eastern Donbas region that is seeing fierce fighting and that Russia wants in its entirety, while also fending off Ukrainian air attacks on their oil and fuel infrastructure.

Officials from the US, Ukraine, and national security advisers from France, UK and Germany to hold talks in Geneva today to discuss plan to end the war.

HALIFAX, Canada — Several U.S. senators said Saturday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them that the Trump administration’s plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war that it is pressing Kyiv to accept is a Russian “wish list” and not the actual plan.

A State Department spokesperson denied their account, calling it “blatantly false.”

The 28-point peace plan was crafted by the Trump administration and the Kremlin without Ukraine’s involvement. It acquiesces to many Russian demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected on dozens of occasions, including giving up large pieces of territory. Trump says he wants Ukraine to accept the plan by late next week.

At a security conference in Canada, independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said they spoke to Rubio after he reached out to some of them while on his way to Geneva for talks on the plan.

King said Rubio told them the plan “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians.”

“This administration was not responsible for this release in its current form,” Rounds said. “They want to utilize it as a starting point.”

Rounds said that “it looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with.”

Rubio, who serves as both national security advisor and secretary of State, was expected to attend a meeting in Geneva on Sunday to discuss Washington’s proposal as part of a U.S. delegation, according to an American official who was not authorized to publicly discuss the U.S. participants before the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesperson, denied the senators’ claim.

“As Secretary Rubio and the entire Administration has consistently maintained, this plan was authored by the United States, with input from both the Russians and Ukrainians,” Pigott wrote on X.

The senators earlier Saturday said the plan would only reward Moscow for its aggression and send a message to other leaders who have threatened their neighbors.

The senators’ opposition to the plan follows criticism from other U.S. lawmakers, including some Republicans, none of whom have the power to block it.

“It rewards aggression. This is pure and simple. There’s no ethical, legal, moral, political justification for Russia claiming eastern Ukraine,” King said during a panel discussion at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the proposal late Friday, saying that it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement” if the U.S. can get Ukraine and its European allies to agree.

Zelensky, in an address, did not reject the plan outright, but insisted on fair treatment while pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners in what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history.”

In its 17th year, about 300 people gather annually at the Halifax International Security Forum held at Halifax’s Westin hotel. The forum attracts military officials, U.S. senators, diplomats and scholars, but this year the Trump administration suspended participation of U.S. defense officials in events by think tanks, including the Halifax event.

A large number of U.S. senators made the trip this year in part because of strained relations between Canada and the United States. Trump has alienated America’s neighbor with his trade war and claims that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. Many Canadians now refuse to travel to the U.S., and border states like Shaheen’s are seeing a dramatic drop in tourism.

“There’s real concern about that strain. That’s one reason why there’s such a big delegation is here,” the New Hampshire Democrat said. “I will continue to object to what the president is doing in terms about tariffs and his comments because they are not only detrimental to Canada and our relationship, but I think they are detrimental globally. They show a lack of respect of sovereign nations.”

Gillies writes for the Associated Press.

Russian forces continue to report advances in eastern Ukraine while the United States ramps up intensive diplomatic pressure on Kyiv and its European allies to accede to its proposed 28-point plan, which heavily leans towards the Kremlin’s demands, by Thursday.

The Russian Ministry of Defence announced on Saturday that its soldiers “liberated” the settlement of Zvanivka in Donetsk region’s Bakhmut, allegedly inflicting “significant losses” on Ukrainian forces.

It also released footage of air attacks and FPV drone attacks on Ukrainian positions in the Zaporizhia region, where Russian forces have been getting closer to the strategic town of Huliaipole using glide bombs and tactical ground incursions.

The Defence Ministry claimed that the Novoe Zaporozhye area was taken under Russian control, including a “major enemy defence node” covering an area of more than 14sq km (5sq miles).

This would add to a growing number of villages in the southeastern Ukrainian region that have been captured by Russian troops since September as they try to push back the Ukrainian military and strike energy infrastructure with another punishing winter of war approaching.

Ukrainian soldiers are also under intense attacks in the Pokrovsk area, where the fighting is believed to be fierce as the Russian military command redeploys forces to strengthen its offensive.

Regional Ukrainian authorities have reported at least one civilian death and 13 injuries over the past day as a result of Russian air attacks. The fatal strike took place in Donetsk, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Ukraine’s air force said Russian troops launched one Iskander-M ballistic missile from annexed Crimea and 104 drones from several areas towards multiple Ukrainian regions overnight into Saturday, of which 89 drones were downed. Most of the drones were of Iranian design, it added.

Ukrainian media said the Yany Kapu electric substation in northern Crimea was targeted by drones overnight, with footage circulating on social media showing explosions and strikes. The Russian Defence Ministry said its air force shot down six fixed-wing Ukrainian drones over Crimea early on Saturday, without confirming any hits on the ground.

EU pushes back against US plan

Ukraine’s allies have not been cheering the plan put forward by the administration of US President Donald Trump without consulting them, despite an ominous Thursday deadline set by Washington approaching.

The unilateral US plan to end the war in Ukraine “is a basis which will require additional work”, Western leaders gathered in South Africa for a G20 summit said on Saturday.

“We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force,” said the leaders of key European countries, as well as Canada and Japan, in a joint statement.

“We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack,” they said, adding that any implementing elements of the plan linked with the 27-member bloc and NATO would have to be undertaken with the consent of member states.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia’s war could only be ended with Ukraine’s “unconditional consent”.

“Wars cannot be ended by major powers over the heads of the countries affected,” he said on the sidelines of the summit.

Ukraine and its allies continue to emphasise the need for a “just and lasting peace”, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying on Saturday that real peace is based on guaranteed security and justice that secures sovereignty and territorial integrity.

But Zelenskyy approved a Ukrainian delegation to launch talks with US counterparts in Switzerland on ways of ending the war, and appointed his top aide Andriy Yermak to lead it.

Ukraine’s Security Council secretary, Rustem Umerov, who is on the negotiating team, confirmed in a post on Telegram that consultations will begin over “possible parameters” of a future deal.

“Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests,” he said, thanking the Trump administration for its mediation.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the state-owned International Affairs magazine, published on Saturday, that he would not rule out the possibility of another meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has backed the US proposal.

“The search for a way forward continues,” he said, adding that Moscow and Washington continue to keep channels for dialogue open despite the lack of an agreement during a Trump-Putin meeting in August, and the indefinite suspension of another planned round in Budapest.

Putin has refused to engage in a summit that includes Zelenskyy and will be even less likely to now, given he believes Russia has the upper hand on the battlefield and the ear of the US on the diplomatic front.