The United States and Ukraine have announced an “updated and refined peace framework” to end the war with Russia, following widespread criticism of an original US-backed document that contained pro-Russian provisions. The joint statement came hours after European allies proposed their own alternative plan for ending the conflict.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, emerged from talks in Switzerland late on Sunday expressing optimism about progress. The original 28-point US document, leaked last week, had demanded Ukraine cede territory to Russia, limit the size of its army, and drop pursuit of war crimes charges against the Kremlin.
European countries put forward a rival plan on Sunday, which calls for territorial negotiations to begin only after a ceasefire, starting from the current frontline. It does not require Kyiv to withdraw from cities it controls in eastern Donbas, nor does it rule out Nato membership. Other proposals include placing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station under the International Atomic Energy Agency, capping Ukraine’s peacetime army at 800,000 soldiers, and using frozen Russian assets for reconstruction rather than giving them to US investors.
Rubio and Ukrainian chief of staff Andriy Yermak said they had made “tremendous progress” in addressing unresolved questions. Yermak added that the sides were “moving forward to the just and lasting peace Ukrainian people deserve”.
US President Donald Trump criticised Ukraine for showing “zero gratitude”, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by thanking Trump for US military assistance. Trump later backed away from his demand that Kyiv sign off on the deal by this week, saying it was “not my final offer”.
The authorship of the original plan remains disputed. Rubio initially admitted it was conceived in Moscow, then insisted the US was the author. Reports suggest it was drawn up by Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Trump’s representative Steve Witkoff, and may have been written in Russian before being translated into English.
