US and Ukraine draft new 19-point peace plan but defer biggest decisions

The United States and Ukraine have drafted a new 19-point peace agreement, but left the most politically sensitive elements to be decided by the two countries’ presidents, according to Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kyslytsya.

Washington had previously put pressure on Kiev to agree to a 28-point proposal developed by US and Russian officials that crossed several long-standing Ukrainian red lines.

Kyslytsya, who was present in the room as part of the Ukrainian delegation to the high-stakes talks in Geneva, told the Financial Times that the meeting was an “intense” but “productive” effort that resulted in a carefully revised draft document that left both sides feeling “positive.”

After hours of painstaking talks that almost collapsed before they even started, the US and Ukrainian teams reached agreements on many issues, but “bracketed” the most controversial points – including regional issues and relations between NATO, Russia and the United States – for decision by Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainians said they were “not authorized” to make decisions on territory – especially ceding territory as proposed by the original draft plan – which under their country’s constitution requires a national referendum.

Kyslytsia said the new draft bears little resemblance to the previous leaked version of the peace proposal that caused an uproar in Kiev. “There is very little left from the original,” he said.

“We’ve developed a strong set of affinities, and some things we can compromise on,” he said. “The rest will need leadership decisions.”

Each side will take the latest working drafts to Washington and Kiev to brief the two presidents. He added that the Trump administration is then expected to contact Moscow in an effort to advance the talks.

Copies of the draft plan presented to the heads of the American and Ukrainian delegations were the only texts that left the room. Kislitsia said that all other copies were restored at the conclusion of the meeting.

Discussions were led on the Ukrainian side by Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff Andriy Ermak and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustam Omerov, with Kyslytsya and a group of military officers and intelligence officials playing a supporting role on the Kiev side.

The US delegation included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Trump’s special envoy to Russia Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose presence initially surprised Ukrainian officials.

Kyslytsia said that the Americans were attentive and eager to hear the Ukrainians’ point of view and open to suggestions. “Almost everything we proposed was taken into account,” he said.

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Monday: “Everyone at home is feeling optimistic about what happened and happened yesterday in Geneva… Ultimately, the vast majority of these points have been agreed upon.”

While the talks ended positively, they almost failed to get started, according to Kislitsia, who described the mood in Geneva on Sunday morning as “very tense.”

The Americans had arrived frustrated by leaks to the media in the days before the meeting and public debate on the origins of the first draft of the proposal.

“It was quite the early hours…” he said, pausing for several seconds, “hanging on by a hair.”

It took nearly two hours of talks between Yermak and the US delegation to lower tensions and get back on track. “In the end, we were able to go to the American mission and start real talks,” Kislitsia said.

A long morning session with the Americans allowed the Ukrainians to express their concerns and requests. He added that this was followed by a short break and a detailed review of the proposed peace plan, point by point.

Kyslytsya said that the American side appears ready to cancel a proposal to impose a maximum number of 600,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian army. He said that the American negotiators carefully listened to the Ukrainian arguments and agreed to take the points into account.

“They agreed on the Ukrainian army number in the leaked version [of the peace plan draft] He said: “Whoever wrote it is no longer on the table. The army will continue to discuss the arrangements.”

He added that the proposal for a blanket amnesty for potential war crimes in the original draft had been reworded in a way that addressed “the grievances of those who suffered in the war.”

A separate session later in the day was attended by European allies, including representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union institutions. Kislytsya said that before the US talks, Ukraine held private discussions with European national security advisers to coordinate positions and identify common priorities.

He repeatedly praised the “constructive participation” of the American team, singling out Rubio, Driscoll and Kushner. “There was never a point where they said, ‘We’re not going to discuss this.’ We went through all the points carefully.”

It remains unclear whether Trump wants Zelensky to approve the document by signing, but Levitt said “there are no plans at this moment” for a meeting between the two leaders.

The US President said his Ukrainian counterpart must support the draft plan by Thanksgiving on Thursday.

Washington must decide how and when to submit the draft peace agreement to Russia. The Kremlin said on Monday that it had not seen or reviewed the US-Ukrainian draft.

“It is up to the Russians to show whether they are truly interested in peace or whether they will find a thousand reasons not to participate,” Kislytsia said.

Ukraine, for its part, expressed its readiness to continue working towards a just end to the war and to travel “anywhere” to continue the process.

He also stressed the broader importance of the meeting. He said: “The main achievement in Geneva is that we were able to maintain a practical partnership and dialogue with the Americans.”

He added: “Despite the media hype and social media frenzy, both sides demonstrated that the partnership is strong and capable of producing a workable document for leaders.”

However, Kislitsia remained cautious. “We weren’t sitting down at Netflix to write scripts that would be nominated for an Oscar,” he said. “We should not be moved by sensationalism or hype, but by responsibility and the complexity of the issues.”

Additional reporting by Steve Chavez in Mexico City