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Washington/London: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted the 28-point peace deal being pushed on Ukraine by the Trump administration was written by the US and not the Kremlin amid a revolt from Republicans concerned it is effectively a Russian “wish list”.
The confusion comes as European leaders push for a rival 24-point peace plan that seeks to maintain pressure on Russia by holding sanctions in place and allowing foreign defence forces to be stationed on Ukrainian soil.
Rubio (right) speaks to reporters in Geneva alongside Ukraine’s head of presidential administration Andriy Yermak.Credit: AP
Multiple US senators, after being briefed by Rubio on the weekend, said the secretary had conveyed in their calls that the 28-point plan was not a proposal by the US government.
“He made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives. It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan,” Republican senator Mike Rounds said at a news conference on the sidelines of a security forum in Canada.
Angus King, an independent senator who caucuses with Democrats and was also briefed by Rubio, echoed that understanding. “I think it’s fair to say that this document represents the Russian position,” he said.
But hours later, Rubio flatly rejected that characterisation of the briefings. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he wrote on X. “It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
US State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott also sought to control the damage, calling the senators’ claims blatantly false. He said the document was written by the US with “input” from Russia and Ukraine.
A Russian ‘wish list’
Bloomberg News reported on Sunday (Monday AEDT) that the plan largely resulted from behind-the-scenes talks between President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev, including an October meeting in Miami that included Trump’s son–in-law Jared Kushner.
According to Bloomberg, Rubio was not “fully looped in” until late in the process, while Trump “found out about it at the last minute, but he blessed it once he was briefed”.
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The confusion in Washington comes as more Republicans voice their concerns about the plan, which Trump has given Ukraine until Thursday to accept.
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said the proposal looked like a Russian “wish list”. “It’s better for the United States not to make such incredible concessions to the Russians because I think ultimately it puts us at a disadvantage,” he told TV network News Nation.
Republican congressman from Nebraska Don Bacon, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said the messy situation had hurt the US, undermined its alliances and encouraged its adversaries.
“Some people better get fired on Monday for the gross buffoonery we just witnessed over the last four days,” he said.
Todd Young, a Republican senator from Indiana, said he was pleased that Trump acknowledged the plan was not a final offer. “It’s time to tighten the thumbscrews on Putin, not throw in the towel against him,” he said.
The first draft of the peace plan was thrashed out by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff (centre, left).Credit: AP
But Trump instead tightened the screws on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday (Monday AEDT) in a social media post that reprised familiar complaints that Ukraine was ungrateful for US support.
“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump wrote.
He also claimed the war, which began in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, would not have happened if there had been “strong and proper” US and Ukrainian leadership at the time.
Meanwhile, European leaders pushed for their alternative proposals as their officials met US and Ukrainian counterparts in Geneva for talks that continued late on Sunday, local time (early on Monday, AEDT).
Like the US plan, the European proposal says Russia would rejoin the global economy and be restored to the G8 group of major economies, but it differs dramatically in keeping sanctions in place until there is proof of long-term peace.
While the US seeks to cap the Ukrainian military at 600,000, the European plan suggests 800,000.
Crucially, the European plan avoids any restriction on placing foreign troops on Ukrainian soil – a scenario ruled out in the draft US plan – and says it would be up to NATO members to decide if Ukraine could join the defence pact.
The European terms are in keeping with the long-term position put by leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, when they convened the “coalition of the willing” among national leaders to consider a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he is open to considering the options, but has made no commitment about sending Australian peacekeepers.
Speaking in Geneva during a break in talks, Rubio said the meeting had been “probably the best” all year, and indicated the US peace plan would be amended.
“We’re working through making some changes, some adjustments in the hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to something that both Ukraine and obviously the United States are very comfortable with,” Rubio said. “There’s still some work left to do.”
Andriy Yermak, who led the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva, agreed the talks were productive and thanked Trump and the US team. “The Ukrainian people deserve and want this peace more than anyone,” he said.
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