Europeans hail progress in US-led Ukraine peace talks

European officials welcomed on Monday what they said were steps in the right direction at talks in Geneva on US peace proposals seen as heavily favouring Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, but they offered few details and warned the discussions still have a long way to go.

“The negotiations were a step forward, but there are still major issues which remain to be resolved,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on social platform X about Sunday’s meeting in Switzerland.

The talks went over a 28-point peace proposal presented last week by the United States that triggered alarm in Kyiv and European capitals by heavily favouring Moscow’s demands.

The plan pressed Ukraine to consent to handing over some of its territory to Moscow and slashing the size of its army, leaving it vulnerable. The proposal also sought Europe’s agreement that Ukraine will never be admitted into the Nato military alliance, though the alliance has previously said Ukraine is on an “irreversible path” to membership.

The surprise emergence of the peace plan coincided with a bleak period for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the war less than three months shy of its fourth anniversary.

It is under severe strain on the front line against Russia’s bigger army, it is short of money, and Zelensky is trying to defuse a major corruption scandal that has tainted his government.

The Geneva meeting offered some hope for Kyiv. “Diplomacy has been reinvigorated, and that’s good. Very good,” Zelensky said late on Sunday.

Russian officials still haven’t seen the revised peace plan text since amendments were made over the weekend, a Kremlin spokesperson said on Monday.

Dmitry Peskov added that there was currently no plan in place for US and Russian delegations to meet this week, but that the Russian side remained “open for such contacts.”

German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who directed the talks in Switzerland, “made decisive positive contributions to ensuring that this plan can be accepted by both the European and Ukrainian sides.”

“I would like to say that all issues concerning Europe or Nato have been removed from this plan, which is a decisive success that we achieved yesterday,” he told public broadcaster Deutschlandradio.

Rubio said on Sunday the talks were “very worthwhile” and constituted the most productive day in “a very long time.”

“I feel very optimistic that we can get something done,” Rubio said.

Turkey is also hoping to build bridges between Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin was to speak by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said.

Erdogan’s office said on Sunday that the two leaders would discuss a deal from 2022, which allowed Ukraine to safely ship exports of grain via the Black Sea. Moscow refused to extend the deal a year later, saying agreements to ease Russian exports of food and fertiliser hadn’t been honoured.

Meanwhile, the grim reality of war still cast a pall over Ukraine as Russian forces kept up their deadly and devastating strikes on civilian areas.

Russian drones hit residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city overnight, killing four people and wounding 13, including two children, authorities said.

Eight residential buildings, an educational facility and power lines were damaged in the attack, according to the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov.

Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office published photos showing homes on fire, rubble scattered across backyards and firefighters and war crimes prosecutors working on site.

Ukraine’s air force says Russia fired 162 strike and decoy drones over the country overnight.

Russia also resumed its nighttime drone attacks on Ukraine’s civilian and port infrastructure close to Romania’s border, the Nato member’s defence ministry said on Monday.

Romania scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoon jets and two F-16s in response to drones near its border, the ministry said.

Associated Press