Progress on US peace proposals welcomed

EUROPEAN officials have said they are comforted by the outcome of discussions on United States peace proposals for Ukraine.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTERS

The plans have been viewed as tilted in Russia's favour, but officials did not disclose details of the weekend talks and warned of a long road to peace in Ukraine.

After Sunday's meeting in Switzerland between US and Ukrainian officials, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb wrote on social media: “The negotiations were a step forward, but there are still major issues which remain to be resolved.”

US President Donald Trump suggested that 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 in a post on his Truth Social social media platform.

The talks in Geneva covered a 28-point peace plan presented last week by the US that triggered alarm in Kyiv by heavily favouring Moscow’s demands and goals, following its invasion of its neighbour nearly four years ago.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the “interim result” of the talks, saying the US proposal “has now been modified in significant parts”