The results of the Geneva talks now have to be discussed with Russia, the US secretary of state has said
The US and Ukraine have made a “tremendous amount of progress” on a peace plan to end the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, stressing that Russian agreement is essential for any deal to hold.
Earlier media reports indicated that the 28-point peace plan included de facto recognition of Russia’s control over Crimea and Donbass. Meanwhile, the current lines of contact would be frozen in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, while Russia would pull back troops from Ukrainian territories it holds outside those areas. The deal also reportedly calls for Ukraine to cap its military at about 600,000 troops and stay out of NATO.
Rubio addressed reporters on Sunday after lengthy talks in Geneva, Switzerland, with a Ukrainian delegation, saying that one goal was “to take … 28 points or 26 points, depending on which version… and try to narrow the ones that were open items.” He added that while “there’s still some work to be done,” “we made a tremendous amount of progress.”
According to Rubio, some points involving the EU nations and NATO were placed on “a separate track… because it involves input from them.” At the same time, he declined to name the remaining sticking points in the peace talks, calling the moment “very delicate.”
“Some of it is semantics or language; others require higher-level decisions and consultation; others … just need more time to work through,” he said.
Asked about Moscow’s stance on the talks, Rubio noted that “obviously the Russians get a vote here… we now have to take what we come up with, if we can reach that agreement with the Ukrainian side, to the Russian side. They have to agree to this in order for it to work.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Moscow has received the US peace plan, adding that it has not yet been discussed “in detail.”
“I believe it could also form the basis of a final peace settlement,” Putin said. At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia was against discussing the roadmap through “megaphone diplomacy.”
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