The United States and Ukraine are expected to continue working Monday on a plan to end the war with Russia, after agreeing to amend an earlier proposal that was widely seen as too pro-Moscow.
The two sides said in a joint statement that they had reached an “improved framework for peace” after talks in Geneva on Sunday, although they did not provide specific details.
The White House said separately that the Ukrainian delegation said the plan “reflects its national interests” and “addresses its core strategic needs,” although Kiev did not issue a statement of its own.
It was not clear how the updated plan would address a range of issues, including how to ensure Ukraine’s security against continuing threats from Russia. The United States and Ukraine said they would continue to “work intensively” ahead of Thursday’s deadline, although Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the US delegation during the talks, returned to Washington late Sunday.
US President Donald Trump continued to pressure Ukraine to reach an agreement. He said on Sunday that Ukraine had shown “no gratitude” for US wartime efforts, prompting Ukrainian officials to stress their thanks for Trump’s support.
Trump earlier set a Thursday deadline for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to approve the peace plan, but Rubio said on Sunday that deadline may not be firm.
Zelensky could travel to the United States as early as this week to discuss the most sensitive aspects of the plan with Trump, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The initial 28-point proposal put forward by the United States last week calls on Ukraine to cede its territory, accept restrictions on its armed forces and abandon its ambitions to join NATO. Such terms would amount to surrender for many Ukrainians after nearly four years of fighting in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
The original plan caught US officials by surprise, and two sources said Saturday that it was drawn up at an October meeting in Miami, which included special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian envoy under US sanctions.
The European allies said they were not involved in drafting the original plan and issued a counter-proposal on Sunday that would scale back some of the proposed territorial concessions and include a NATO-style security guarantee from the United States for Ukraine if it is attacked.
The talks come as Russia is slowly making gains in some regions, while Ukraine’s energy and gas facilities have come under drone and missile attacks, leaving millions of people without water, heat and electricity for hours each day.
Zelensky is also under pressure at home, where a major corruption scandal has involved some of his ministers, sparking new anger over rampant corruption. This has complicated the country’s efforts to secure financing to keep its economy going.
Kiev has gained momentum in recent weeks after the United States tightened sanctions on the Russian oil sector, the main source of financing the war, while drone and long-range missile strikes caused significant damage to the industry.