What we're covering
• US optimism: US President Donald Trump “remains hopeful and optimistic that a deal can be struck” to end Russia’s war with Ukraine following negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend, the White House said today.
• Kyiv’s gratitude: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to social media to express his gratitude to a flurry of world leaders, a day after Trump claimed that Kyiv had shown “zero gratitude” for US-led peace efforts.
• Russia’s reaction: The Kremlin says the US proposal “in principle, could form the basis for a final peace settlement.” President Vladimir Putin said a version of the plan seen by Russia is “in line with the discussions” at the US-Russia summit in Alaska earlier this year.
Zelensky says he will discuss "sensitive issues" concerning plan to end Ukraine war with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that he and US President Donald Trump will discuss “sensitive issues” regarding the US proposal to end the war in Ukraine.
After an intense period of diplomacy in Geneva, Zelensky said there are “fewer points than 28, and many proper considerations have been taken into account in this framework.”
On Monday, the Ukrainian delegation returned from Switzerland and “reported on the new draft of steps,” Zelensky said. “This is indeed the right approach. I will discuss sensitive issues with President Trump.”
The Ukrainian leader concluded by making an appeal for further pressure to be exerted on Russia and for attacks on Ukraine to stop amid the renewed talks.
“If we are really ending the war, then there should be no missiles, no massive strikes on Ukraine, on our people. This can be done by those who are truly powerful in the world. Much depends on America,” he said.
White House says Trump "remains hopeful and optimistic" for Ukraine peace deal
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that President Donald Trump “remains hopeful and optimistic that a deal can be struck” to end Russia’s war with Ukraine following negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend.
Trump expressed frustration over the prolonged war in a social media post Sunday morning, claiming Ukraine has “expressed zero gratitude” for his efforts to end the war.
She added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff spent Sunday in Geneva, where they went through the US-backed peace plan, “with input from both the Russian side and the Ukrainian side.” She said they were able to “fine-tune the points, and so now there are just a couple points of disagreement that our teams continue to work through.”
Leavitt said Trump “is a peacetime president,” adding, “he remains optimistic and hopeful, and I know our teams are working around the clock to try to get this deal to an end.”
Speaking to reporters outside the White House after the interview, Leavitt said there is no meeting scheduled between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Vance slams McConnell after the former GOP leader ripped into Trump's Ukraine peace proposal
Vice President JD Vance slammed former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, after McConnell criticized President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine and warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “play President Trump for a fool.”
McConnell has previously announced he will not seek reelection in 2026.
The Kentucky Republican’s first post criticizing the reported plan came on Friday, warning that it would be “disastrous to America’s interests,” and telling Trump to “find new advisors.”
Over the weekend as the administration pulled back from the proposal amid backlash from within the GOP and from allies abroad. At the time, McConnell again warned, “Our credibility is on the line.”
Only Ukraine "entitled" to talk about territorial integrity, Spanish FM says
Only Ukraine is “entitled” to talk about issues relating to the country’s territorial integrity, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Monday, as negotiations continue over the wording of a US proposal to end the war in Ukraine.
The original draft proposal put forward by the US put pressure on Kyiv to cede territory and promise not to join NATO in exchange for an end to the war — both long-standing Kremlin demands. Albares said these matters, respectively, are for Ukraine and NATO to decide.
A counterproposal drafted by the UK, France and Germany made an array of key changes, including striking out the language regarding the restriction of further NATO expansion and removing references to territorial concessions.
Albares said the decision about who can join NATO is not for a “third party” to decide, but rather the military alliance itself.
“For me, it’s very clear that anything that is related to who is going to join NATO, European Union, is to us, to the member states to decide,” he said. “It wouldn’t be acceptable that a third party outside NATO or European Union tell us or decide who can go in or not.”
Ukrainian former minister optimistic that all parties are interested in ending the war
Ukraine’s former trade minister said he is optimistic that all parties are interested in ending the war, as Russia has not yet shown signs of attempting to sabotage the peace process.
“It’s difficult to find a win-win here between Russia and Ukraine, but definitely I think all parties are interested in ending the war,” Mylovanov said.
Despite the optimism, the former minister said that if Russia is unwilling to move on the 28 points laid out in the Trump administration’s initial plan, no peace deal will be reached.
“This is the fundamental question: Is this an ultimatum, or is it an opening bid? If it is an opening bid, I think we will get somewhere,” he said.
Russia’s willingness to compromise would likely be revealed in the coming days, Mylovanov added.
“From the previous conversations or negotiations with Russia, we saw that that becomes clear almost immediately. So I think today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, it will become clear,” he said.
Zelensky issues a flurry of thanks to world leaders after Trump criticism
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to social media on Monday to express his gratitude to a flurry of world leaders, one day after US President Donald Trump claimed that the Ukrainian leadership had shown “zero gratitude” for US-led peace efforts.
In the space of around one hour Monday evening local time, the Ukrainian leader thanked 13 world leaders on X, posting: “Thank you for your support!” in response to several social media posts.
The world leaders on the receiving end of Zelensky’s praise included Estonia’s Prime Minister Kristen Michal, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden, among others.
On Sunday, Trump claimed on social media that “UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS” in relation to the war there. In fact, Zelensky has expressed gratitude to the United States on dozens of occasions. Read more on this topic here.
Zelensky and Trump to work on "most difficult issues" of peace plan, Ukrainian delegation member says
Ukraine’s suggested amendments to the US peace plan are still being finalized, with the most difficult issues to be resolved by the presidents of Ukraine and the United States, a Ukrainian delegation member has told local media.
Oleksandr Bevz, adviser to the Chief of Presidential Staff and a member of the Ukrainian delegation, told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne that there was “no final version of the document,” as some issues had been left out of the technical talks in Geneva.
“Some of the most difficult issues will be resolved by the presidents. There are not many of them, but they are certainly of the greatest public interest,” Bevz told Suspline.
While a ceasefire was mentioned as the final point of the Trump administration’s 28-point proposal to end the war, Bevz stressed it remains an important condition for the Ukrainians.
“For us, a ceasefire has always been the first, even the zero condition for the start of the peace process,” Bevz told Suspline.
The Ukrainian official said that as soon as Ukraine and the United States reached an agreement on the text, the Americans would present it to the Russians as part of the next stage of negotiations.
Russia "certainly" won't agree to parts of Trump's Ukraine plan, security expert says
The Trump administration’s 28-point plan for Ukraine has parts that Russia “certainly won’t agree to,” with Moscow having “every incentive” to drag out the negotiation process, according to a former director at the National Security Council.
“There’s no incentive for them to actually agree to this, but there’s every incentive for them to drag it along,” he said.
Asked what could push Russia toward some form of peace agreement, Edmonds said, “you have to change the Kremlin’s calculus on whether or not they can achieve their goals in Ukraine … That is the only thing that’s ultimately going to bring them to the table.”
He said the situation on Ukraine’s front line was “not great,” but they were “not ready to fold.”
Trump says he discussed Ukraine and Russia in “very good telephone call” with China's Xi Jinping
President Donald Trump said Monday that he discussed Ukraine and Russia in a “very good telephone call” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday.
China and Russia — and their countries’ leaders — have grown closer in recent years as they seek to push back against Western rules and tilt the global balance of power in their favor.
Visit to China: Trump added that he accepted Xi’s invite to visit Beijing in April and that the Chinese leader will visit the US for a state visit later next year.
“Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” the president posted, adding, “We agreed that it is important that we communicate often, which I look forward to doing.”
The pair met late last month in South Korea, where Trump said they came to an agreement on “almost everything.” Following that meeting, Trump said he would visit China in April and that Xi would visit the US.
Xi last visited the US in 2023, when he met with then-President Joe Biden in California.
European leaders react to peace talk progress
We’re seeing more reactions from around Europe as discussions about US President Donald Trump’s 28-point-plan for peace in Ukraine continue.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised Germany’s unrelenting support to Ukraine in a statement which also backed Ukraine’s right to defend itself moving forward. “Ukrainian interests are also common European interests, and we want to work together to safeguard them in the long term. This means that Ukraine must not be forced to make unilateral territorial concessions,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signaled talks are moving in the right direction, but was clear more work must be done. “But we’ve all got our sleeves rolled up ready to put in those hard yards hopefully to get to the right outcome,” he said.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on X that while Ukraine is committed to “just and lasting” peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “imperial goals” remain unchanged. He said allies “must increase pressure” on Moscow, before suggesting the immediate use of frozen Russian assets, a stronger sanctions package and EU tariffs were needed.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said on social media that Putin is the only person standing between Trump and peace in Ukraine, and Russia is “buying time for further atrocities and has no interest in lasting peace at all.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson echoed the Latvian foreign minister, highlighting that while many nations work “tirelessly” towards a sustainable peace in Ukraine, Russia’s overnight attack on Kharkiv suggested Putin is not taking peace talks seriously. The strikes overnight killed four people and left tens of thousands of Ukrainian homes without power on Monday morning.
CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed to this reporting.
Analysis: Three steps back and one forward for Ukraine, all packaged up as progress
Ukraine has managed to step back from the brink of another Trump-fuelled crisis. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emerged from talks on Sunday calling it “probably the most productive day we have had on this issue, maybe in the entirety of our engagement.”
And yet, cut through the diplo-PR and Ukraine, while perhaps in a slightly stronger position than it was when it received the 28-point “peace plan” on Friday, is arguably weaker than it was before we knew of the document’s existence.
Just last week Kyiv openly announced it had fired US-made long-range ATACMS missiles at Russia. New US sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil giants took effect. And the US agreed to sell Ukraine an upgrade package for its patriot missile-defence system.
Now, instead of discussing Ukraine’s battlefield needs with allies, or shoring up his domestic position, after a massive corruption scandal, Zelensky is reduced, once again, to playing along with Washington’s spin (he called the talks “substantive”), while re-explaining what exactly he is fighting for.
“Putin wants legal recognition to what he has stolen, to break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Zelensky told the Swedish parliament in a virtual address Monday morning. “That’s the main problem.”
And Europe, seemingly also blindsided by this peace plan, has failed to coalesce around an alternative. Several versions of a European counterproposal were floating around on Sunday, all of which removed (among other things) specific clauses on Ukrainian territorial concessions.
“It’s clear that this is exclusively designed so that Russia refuses,” wrote former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev on X Monday.
“But there’s a risk that Moscow will shift the responsibility onto the Europeans, and tell Trump how incapable they are of negotiating, and the American plan is quite acceptable (with TINY, around 90% or so, little revisions. Just cosmetic changes, Donald, don’t worry.)”
“I don’t think anyone cares about Europe,” said Russian MP and journalist Evgeny Popov in written comments to CNN Monday. “I believe in Russia-US deal.”
Xi and Trump discussed Ukraine in phone call, Chinese state news reports
US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed the war in Ukraine in a phone call on Monday, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Xi told Trump that his country supports all peace efforts, and that he hopes Moscow and Kyiv will resolve their differences to reach a fair and lasting peace agreement as soon as possible, Xinhua reported.
The pair also discussed US-China relations and Taiwan, according to the outlet.
A senior White House official told CNN earlier that Trump and Xi also spoke about trade.
CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed to this report.
Kremlin calls European counterproposal to US plan "unconstructive"
The European counterproposal to the United States’ 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine “at first glance, is completely unconstructive and doesn’t suit us,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said Monday, according to Russian state media.
The UK, France and Germany drafted a counterproposal to the US plan with an array of key changes, among them included striking out the language regarding the restriction of further NATO expansion, removing references to territorial concessions, and capping the Ukrainian military during peacetime to 800,000 instead of the 600,000 figure put forward by the US.
Ushakov said the 28-point proposal presented by the US “is consistent with the understandings reached in Alaska” and included “many—I would say not all, but many” provisions which seemed “entirely acceptable to us,” but emphasized “no one has held any specific negotiations with Russian representatives on” the US proposal.
The initial 28-point plan has faced criticism for appearing to favor Russia.
US President Donald Trump met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August. The results of that summit were not entirely clear, but the two men proclaimed progress. However, they exited their scheduled news conference without explaining what, exactly, they achieved.
One size doesn’t fit all: Why Ukraine isn’t Gaza
When President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner went to Tel Aviv in October, they received a heroes’ welcome from Israelis.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government were quite happy, indeed keen, to keep fighting in Gaza, most in Israel were not. They wanted the war to end.
Even if the two Americans would not have received the same raucous welcome in Gaza, the overwhelming sentiment among Palestinians was relief the bombing campaign appeared over.
Both societies, in other words, wanted the same basic thing the Americans were promising.
That’s not the case in Ukraine, and it is perhaps the primary mistake Trump’s envoys are making.
Ukraine may be losing ground on the battlefield, but its army is not about to collapse.
Power supplies across the country may be interrupted, but Ukrainians are used to it, and energy rationing is predictable.
Zelensky may be damaged by a corruption scandal lapping worryingly close to his door, but he has not been personally implicated, and his approval ratings – while lower than those he enjoyed in the war’s early stages – remain pretty good.
Ukraine’s president may be in a tight corner, in other words, but his people remain behind him.
“The public appetite is not there for these huge concessions as they are presented in the (American) plan,” says Orysia Lutsevych of London’s Chatham House think-tank.
“Ukraine,” she adds, “has always been underestimated.”
Many Ukrainians do not believe Trump's 28-point plan will end war, former defense minister says
A former defense minister for Ukraine described the nation’s collective doubt about the Trump administration’s peace proposal.
Zagorodnyuk said the immediate threats of consequence made by the US to Ukraine if the country were not to accept the plan has caused many to feel uneasy about the US’s intentions. “’You will lose US support. You will lose US intelligence…You wouldn’t do that with a good plan, right? You wouldn’t do this with a plan which actually stops the war,” he said, repeating the threats made by the US.
The former minister criticized the proposal, citing a leniency on Russia he feels will allow President Vladimir Putin space to aggravate tensions in the future, “The plan is not limiting Russia. It limits Ukraine…It limits its size of the armed forces,” Zagorodnyuk said.
He added, “It sets out the stage for the renewal of the aggression and possibly with much bigger success.”
The adviser said he works frequently with the military and noted there is “no spirit” among them for Trump’s 28-point plan.
“The biggest fear is that it will be pushed on Ukraine…imposed on Ukraine with some sort of enormous diplomatic, and perhaps economic, pressure,” Zagorodnyuk added.
"There is one victim and one aggressor in this war": Kallas says Russia must make concessions
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas welcomed discussions around US President Donald Trump’s 28-point peace proposal but warned that pressure must not be taken off Russia in the pursuit for lasting peace.
Speaking to Becky Anderson on CNN’s Connect the World in the last hour, Kallas said: “We shouldn’t take the focus off who doesn’t want the peace, which is Russia. We haven’t heard of Russia making any concessions.”
Kallas, who is also European Commission vice-president, cautioned about the direction of the peace talks, claiming more attention must be paid to Russia’s role in the negotiation, and ensuring the nation’s commitment to enduring peace, and less focus should be on what Ukraine is expected to concede.
“What are the asks for Russia?” Kallas said after highlighting that none of Trump’s 28 points demand Russia make any concessions. “To start with we should ask that they keep to their international agreements that they haven’t so far kept.”
Referring to the US plan’s proposal for the size of Ukraine’s future military, Kallas added: “If we put the limitations on Ukraine, who haven’t made any invasions, then Russia gets what he wants.”
Europe seeks to re-sequence Witkoff’s plan by moving a ceasefire back up the order of business
In the wake of the disastrous Oval Office meeting between Presidents Trump and Zelensky at the end of February, Europe and Ukraine got its diplomatic act together.
While Zelensky had hitherto been skeptical about ceasefire proposals, seeing them primarily as short-term games played by Russia, henceforth he became an avowed advocate. Ceasefire first, talks to end the war to follow soon after – that became the agreed sequencing between the Europeans and Ukraine.
The White House probably still preferred the idea of an all-encompassing agreement, but over the summer, Trump repeatedly told Putin he was expecting a ceasefire, giving the impression – perhaps – that he was happy enough with Europe’s approach.
That idea was conclusively blown up in Steve Witkoff’s 28-point plan, which pushed the “ceasefire” word right back down to the bottom – literally the last of the 28 points in the proposal.
Among Europe’s primary concerns in its response has been to re-assert its preferred order of business. While the Witkoff plan sees Zelensky signing away all of the Donbas before the guns fall silent, the sequencing favored by the UK, France and Germany sees the two sides stop fighting before any negotiations on possible territorial swaps can begin.
With Russia making gains on the battlefield, a ceasefire along current lines could have obvious appeal to Kyiv. For Moscow, though, it is “root causes” that need to come first, which is shorthand for Ukraine’s subordination to effective Russian control.
How does the US-drafted peace plan compare to the European counterproposal?
The Trump administration’s 28-point proposal to end the war in Ukraine – which officials say is still being worked on as talks continue – has been criticized as highly favorable to Russia.
Meanwhile, the European counterproposal, obtained by Reuters and confirmed to CNN to be accurate by European sources, is much more in line with Ukraine’s wishes.
Here are some key differences:
On territorial concessions: The US plan says that Luhansk, Donetsk and occupied Crimea will all be recognized as de facto Russian, including by the United States. It also says that Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be frozen along the line of contact.
The European draft differs starkly, according to the version obtained by Reuters. The text reads: “Ukraine commits not to recover its occupied sovereign territory through military means. Negotiations on territorial swaps will start from the Line of Contact.”
On NATO expansion: The draft US plan includes a provision that NATO will not expand further, and stipulates that Ukraine will agree to not join NATO.
The European draft removes those provisions, saying that “Ukraine joining NATO depends on consensus of NATO members,” according to the Reuters version. It notes that consensus does not currently exist, but the language leaves the door open.
On Ukraine’s military: The US plan notes that Ukraine’s Armed Forces “will be limited to 600,000 personnel.”
The European plan suggests that the Ukrainian military is “capped at 800,000 in peacetime.” On both drafts, Russia’s far larger army is not asked to make cuts.
On future elections: The US draft also calls for Ukraine to hold elections within 100 days of a sealed agreement – something that analysts say would be an impractically short window to allow for campaigning.
The European draft only says that elections should be held “as soon as possible” after an agreement is signed.
Some context: It’s worth noting that there are several other versions of the European text that have been reported in American and British news outlets, which differ from the copy Reuters obtained. The US 28-point plan may also have evolved since its original version following top leaders’ discussions in Geneva.
"This is a red line for us," Ukrainian parliament member says on land concessions
Kira Rudik, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament, said that ceding land to Russia is a red line for Ukraine, but she said she’s cautiously optimistic about President Donald Trump’s peace plan to end the war because it mentions security guarantees.
Asked by CNN’s John Berman if she could ever vote on to a peace plan that included ceding land, such as the Donbas region to Russia, and a cap on military, Rudik said it would be “incredibly hard because some of the points that you mentioned go against Ukraine’s constitution. So, to make those changes, it’s not just a vote in Ukraine’s parliament, there need to be a referendum.”
It’s something the Ukrainian people need to be on board with, she added, noting that for a referendum to happen there also needs to be a ceasefire and end to martial law.
On the negotiations between the US and Ukraine, Rudik said, “We are only hopeful because for the first time in all this whole process, we have seen the point about the security guarantees from the United States. So, if there is a breakthrough, this is a breakthrough. However, we need to learn more about what do these security guarantees mean, and are they actually executable?” Rudik said.
Rudik expressed some skepticism on whether Trump will be able to hold Russia accountable to agreements given that “he was not even able to get them to come to a ceasefire, something that Ukraine agreed a while ago.”
Watch more of Berman’s interview with Rudik:
US plan could "in principle" form basis toward end of war in Ukraine, Putin says
One version of the US’ proposal to end the war in Ukraine “in principle, could form the basis for a final peace settlement,” the Kremlin said today, in a read out of a phone call held between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The two leaders discussed the US proposal for a peace plan, the post said, with Putin noting that the version of the plan that Russia has reviewed is “in line with the discussions at the Russian-American summit in Alaska” earlier this year. “Russia’s interest in a political and diplomatic resolution of the Ukrainian crisis was reaffirmed,” the Kremlin added.
Earlier today, the Kremlin said that it had not seen any official information regarding the outcome of talks held in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday between the US and Ukraine.
This could mean that Kremlin was referencing the US’ original 28-point proposal, which puts forward demands Ukraine views as a red line, including asking Kyiv to cede territory, limit its military’s size, and promise not to join NATO in exchange for an end to the war.
In a separate statement, the Turkish Presidency said that Erdogan told Putin that his country is “ready to contribute today, as we have in the past, to all diplomatic initiatives and plans that will facilitate direct contacts between the parties and pave the way for lasting peace in our region as well.”
Some context: Russian and Ukrainian delegates have previously met in Istanbul for various rounds of direct peace talks, though these ended with little progress regarding an end to the war.
This post has been updated.
