Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday his government had made good progress in addressing unresolved questions in a draft U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine as he met with a Ukrainian delegation in Geneva.
"There are a couple of issues we need to work on," Rubio told reporters. "None of them are insurmountable.
"We just need more time than we had today. I honestly believe we'll get there."
Thus far, the teams have developed a "foundational document" on the peace plan with Ukraine, according to Rubio.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday it was good that Ukraine was engaged in a dialog with U.S. representatives and noted there were signals that President Donald Trump's team "is hearing us."
"Today, talks are continuing in Switzerland. The teams will work practically into the night and there will be further reports," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
"It is important that there is a conversation with American representatives and there are signals that President Trump's team is hearing us."
Zelenskyy had said earlier that Ukraine was thankful to the United States for its help after Trump said Ukraine's leaders had expressed "zero gratitude" for U.S. assistance.
Rubio said high-stakes talks in Geneva were "very worthwhile" and constituted the most productive day in "a very long time" on larger efforts to end the fighting.
"I feel very optimistic that we can get something done," Rubio said, noting that any final product, once it's ready, will still have to be presented to Moscow: "obviously, the Russians get a vote here."
Trump has set a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to respond to the plan. But he also has suggested that could slide if there was proof of real progress and that the plan was not his final offer.
Some American and European supporters of Ukraine have panned the plan as too favorable to Moscow. Questions intensified after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators said Rubio told them Saturday that the plan had originated with Russia and was actually a "wish list" for Moscow, rather than a final, take it or leave it proposal.
"We have very good progress and we are moving forward to the just and lasting peace," Ukrainian Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak told reporters in the first of two news conferences. "Ukrainian people deserve and want this peace more than anymore – anyone in this planet.
"We thank our big friends, United States and personal President Trump and his team, to their commitment to bring this peace. And we will continue to work today, as Secretary said.
"We will be working and in coming days to join proposals, and we will – also will engage our European friends and, of course, the final words will be of our leaders, of the President of United States, and Ukraine, and I hope that we can achieve the good progress today."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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