Rubio Hails Progress on Ukraine Peace Talks

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 issues that we need to continue to work on," Rubio told reporters about the "living, breathing document" that "every day, with input, it changes."

"But I think today was worthwhile.

"It was probably the most productive day we have had on this issue, maybe in the entirety of our engagement, but certainly in a very long time.

"But work remains, and because this continues to be a work in process, I don't want to declare victory or finality here.

"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."

While American lawmakers have rebuked the administration's work toward peace, Rubio expressed confidence there will be a deal to be agreed to with Ukraine and Russia.

"None of it insurmountable," Rubio said of the "couple of issues" that remain. "I can tell you that the items that remain open are not insurmountable, we just need more time than what we have 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.

"We began almost three weeks ago with a foundational document that we socialized and ran by both sides, and with input from both sides," Rubio said. "And one of the things that happens when you've been involved in this now for 10 months is you get a pretty good sense of what the priorities and the red lines and the important issues are for both sides.

"And so that allowed us to create a foundational document, which has been an ongoing working document.

"In fact, over the last 96 hours or more there's been extensive engagement with the Ukrainian side, including our Secretary of the Army and others, being on the ground in Kyiv, meeting with relevant stakeholders across the Ukrainian political spectrum in the legislative branch and the executive branch and the military and others to further sort of narrow these points.

"We arrived here today with one goal, and the goal was to take what – it's 28 points or 26 points, depending on which version as it continued to evolve, and try to narrow the ones that were open items. And we have achieved that today in a very substantial way."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday it was good that Ukraine was engaged in a dialogue 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 will require more talk with Ukraine, Russia, and American leaders.

"Now, obviously, like any final agreement, it'll have to be agreed upon by the presidents," Rubio said.

"Obviously the Russians get a vote here.

"We began from the early stage of this process with our understanding of the Russian position as had been communicated to us in numerous ways. At the State Department we've received numerous written non-papers and things of this nature, also verbally things they've discussed over time and so forth.

"So, it was – no matter what we came up with today, obviously, we now have to take what we come up with, if we can reach that agreement with the Ukrainian side, to the Russian side.

"That's another part of this equation. They have to agree to this in order for it to work."

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.

"I feel very optimistic that we can get something done here because we made a tremendous amount of progress today," Rubio said.

"The deadline is we want to get this done as soon as possible. Obviously, we'd love it to be Thursday.

"So I feel very optimistic that we're going to get there in a very reasonable period of time, very soon.

"Whether it's Thursday, whether it's Friday, whether it's Wednesday, whether it's Monday of the following week, we want it to be soon because people are going to be – between today and the time we deal with this – more people are going to die.

"More destruction is going to happen. Our goal is to end this war as soon as possible, but we need a little more time."

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 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 White House readout of the talks Sunday indicated Ukraine's understanding and appreciation of Trump and his administration's role as mediator.

"The Ukrainian delegation affirmed that all of their principal concerns — security guarantees, long-term economic development, infrastructure protection, freedom of navigation, and political sovereignty — were thoroughly addressed during the meeting," the readout read.

"They expressed appreciation for the structured approach taken to incorporate their feedback into each component of the emerging settlement framework.

"Ukrainian representatives stated that, based on the revisions and clarifications presented today, they believe the current draft reflects their national interests and provides credible and enforceable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine's security in both the near and long term.

"They underscored that the strengthened security guarantee architecture, combined with commitments on non-aggression, energy stability, and reconstruction, meaningfully addresses their core strategic requirements.

"Secretary Rubio and his team reiterated the United States' firm commitment to ensuring that Ukraine's sovereignty, security, and future prosperity remain central to the ongoing diplomatic process."