US agrees to make changes to ‘pro-Russian’ peace plan

Trump's deadline for deal to end war in Ukraine closing in

- JAMES C. REYNOLDS

The United States agreed to make “some changes” to its contentious peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine yesterday, following crunch talks that both parties appraised as a success.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that discussions with Ukrainian diplomats in Geneva had been “the most productive and meaningful” of the process, and that the US would make amendments to its plan, seemingly based on the Ukrainian input. The details were not immediately clear.

Talks in Geneva are ongoing as Donald Trump’s provisional deadline to agree to a deal by Thursday closes in. The US president took a more dismissive tone earlier yesterday, saying the war would never have happened under “strong and proper US and Ukrainian LEADERSHIP”.

He accused Kyiv of not expressing gratitude for American efforts to end the war, and hit out at Europe for buying oil from Russia.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian delegation in Switzerland, was at pains to thank Mr Trump for his commitment to Kyiv during brief remarks to reporters, before he and Rubio returned to their talks.

Minutes later, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his gratitude to the US and Europe for their support. He stressed that the main goal for negotiations must be “to stop Russia’s war and prevent it from ever igniting again”.