President Donald Trump inserted fresh tensions into the high-stakes Ukraine-Russia peace talks on Sunday, publicly accusing Kyiv’s leaders of showing “zero gratitude” for U.S. support just as U.S. officials in Geneva were working to show a united front.
Trump’s Truth Social comments landed at a delicate moment: His administration is pressing Ukraine to accept a 28-point peace proposal by Thanksgiving, even as confusion over the plan’s authorship and concerns from European allies and U.S. lawmakers have raised questions about whose interests it serves.
Senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, met with Ukrainian officials in Geneva this weekend to move peace talks forward with a goal of ending the war.
On Sunday, after a full day of talks, Rubio told reporters "a tremendous amount of progress” had been made.
He added, "there’s still some work to be done, but we are much further ahead today at this time than we were when we began this morning and where we were a week ago for certain.”
“So it is in my personal view that we’ve had probably the most productive and meaningful meeting so far in this entire process since we’ve been involved in from the beginning,” he said. “We have a very good work product that was already built on a foundation of input from all the relative parties involved here, and we were able to go through some of those items now, point by point. And I think we’ve made good progress.”
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Another U.S. official told NBC News that Rubio, Witkoff and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with a Ukrainian delegation at the U.S. Mission in Geneva. The U.S. officials said the discussions were “positive and constructive.”
In a post later Sunday on Telegram, Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. and European allies.
“Ukraine is grateful to the United States, to every American heart, and personally to President Trump for the help that, starting with the Javelins, is saving the lives of Ukrainians. We thank everyone in Europe, in the Group of Seven and the Group of Twenty, who is helping us protect lives,” he wrote.
The White House said Sunday evening in a joint statement on the U.S.-Ukraine meeting that "both sides agreed the consultations were highly productive."
"The discussions showed meaningful progress toward aligning positions and identifying clear next steps," the statement said. "They reaffirmed that any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and deliver a sustainable and just peace. As a result of the discussions, the parties drafted an updated and refined peace framework."
Ukrainian and European leaders have expressed concerns about the peace proposal, with some European leaders and U.S. lawmakers close to Trump have also expressed concerned that it benefits Russia.
“While there are many good ideas in the proposed Russia-Ukraine peace plan, there are several areas that are very problematic and can be made better. The goal of any peace deal is to end the war honorably and justly — and not create new conflict,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote Saturday on X.
Another top Trump ally in the Senate, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., also expressed concerns Friday. "This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace,” he wrote on X.
On Saturday, Trump told reporters that this particular proposal is “not my final offer.” He added that if Zelenskyy didn’t accept the peace proposal, “then he can continue to fight his little heart out.”
In a video after the proposal was made public, Zelenskyy said, “Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest.”
He added, “Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner, either the difficult 28 points, or a very difficult winter.”
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, said on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing” that the 28 points are a starting point for negotiations.
“This is only the first proposal, unattainable, and indeed, it’s a wish list. It’s not a document or an agreement. It’s just a list of the points it’s been discussed right now, and it is an agreed line with Ukraine and the United States that it will be a constructive reconciling process,” she said.
On Saturday night, several U.S. lawmakers questioned whether the peace proposal was drafted by the U.S. or Russia.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on Saturday said “none of the information that was released on this particular proposal came back from the administration” following his call Saturday afternoon with Rubio.
“We asked, ‘Is this, you know? Where does this come from?’ And he said, ‘This was a product that had been presented to Mr. Witkoff, and that it was not our proposal, and that it was an opportunity, though, for the U.S. as an intermediary to bring it to the attention of the Ukrainians and I believe, the Europeans as well,’” Rounds added.
Rubio said late Saturday on X that U.S. officials endorsed the plan.
“The peace proposal was authored by the U.S. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations,” he wrote. “It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
