US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied claims by Republican Senator Mike Rounds, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Angus King (Independent) that the 28-point peace proposal for Ukraine released this week was not drafted by Washington but was a “wish list” of the Kremlin handed down by the Russians.
“The peace proposal was developed by the United States. It is offered as a solid basis for the current negotiations. It is based on the proposals of the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and current Ukrainian proposals,” Rubio wrote on social network X.
Earlier, Senator Mike Rounds told reporters that Rubio called him and other senators and said that the said plan was a proposal that was not developed by the US.
“He [Rubio] told us it was not a U.S. proposal. It was a proposal that someone received … representing Russia in this proposal. It was given to [Trump envoy Stiv] Witkoff,” Rounds said, relaying what he said were details of the phone call with Rubio.
Ukrainian officials are due to meet with their U.S. counterparts in Geneva on November 23 to discuss a peace plan that Kiev’s allies say is tilted in Russia’s favour. US Secretary of State Rubio will join the consultations, among others. It is also known that representatives of European states are expected to join the consultations in Geneva.
On the Ukrainian side, the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, and the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Rustem Umerov, will be present.
On 22 November, US President Donald Trump said that the peace plan proposed by his administration regarding Ukraine was being worked out and “is not a final option”.
Before that, Trump said next Thursday, 27 November, was the deadline for Kiev to accept a US-backed peace proposal to end the war Russia is waging against Ukraine.
According to Reuters, Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to cut off intelligence and arms sales to Ukraine if Kiev does not sign the proposed US-backed peace deal.
The draft would, among other things, recognise Crimea, Donetschina and Luhansk region as de facto Russian, while Kherson and Zaporizhia would be “frozen” on the line of contact. In addition, the proposal envisages holding elections in Ukraine 100 days after the signing of the agreement. The plan also stipulates that Ukraine must enshrine non-alignment and rejection of NATO in its constitution (and the alliance must also declare this), and the size of Ukraine’s armed forces will be limited – by how much is not specified. But according to other media reports, there is talk of limiting it to 600,000 military personnel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a copy of the plan and said he was ready to work with the US on it. His office noted that Kiev and Washington agreed to “work on the points of the plan in a way that will lead to a dignified end to the war.”
Russia has said it is ready for peace talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had received a 28-point US plan on Ukraine, which he said “can be put on the basis of a final peace settlement”.