U.S. Brings 28-Point Peace Plan to Geneva as Kyiv Raises Tough Questions

U.S. officials brought a 28-point peace proposal to talks in Geneva on Sunday aimed at ending the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine by Thanksgiving. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio participated in meetings with Ukrainian representatives and European partners as delegations sought to find common ground on a contentious blueprint.

The draft plan sets a target timeline and includes provisions that Kyiv says could require ceding substantial territory to Russia — a concession Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly said they will not accept. The proposal also reportedly ties continued U.S. intelligence and weapons support to Ukraine’s willingness to agree to the settlement.

“The Ukrainian delegation is working in Geneva today, focused on finding doable solutions to end the war, restore peace, and guarantee lasting security,”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X after the first round of talks. He added that

“further work is ongoing to make all elements truly effective in achieving the main goal anticipated by our people: to finally put an end to the bloodshed and war.”

Zelenskyy has not rejected the plan outright but has raised serious questions about its terms. He also posted separate thanks to the United States and President Trump for military assistance, saying U.S. weapons “— starting with the Javelins — have been saving Ukrainian lives.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the proposal publicly, suggesting it could form the basis for a final settlement. In Kyiv, lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko told negotiators he hopes for a quick peace but said parts of the plan should be rewritten.

Dispute Over Origins of the Plan

The origins of the document sparked a dispute after several U.S. senators said they were told the plan appeared to have been authored by Russia. Those senators said the account came from conversations with Rubio while he was en route to Geneva and from descriptions that the plan had been passed through intermediaries.

U.S. officials and the White House pushed back on that version. Senator Rubio later said the proposal was authored by the United States. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott posted on X that claims the plan is Russian-authored are “blatantly false,” and a senior U.S. official told negotiators the draft was written by the United States with input from both Russian and Ukrainian sources.

The U.S. position frames the document as a starting point for negotiation rather than a final settlement, and officials described it as intended to reopen talks that could eventually lead to a binding peace agreement. Negotiators cautioned that significant gaps remain and that further negotiations will be necessary before any deal can be finalized.

Talks in Geneva are continuing, and all parties said work would proceed to refine language and address outstanding security and territorial concerns.