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Ukraine’s allies at the G20 meeting in South Africa discussed the US peace plan and issued a joint statement calling it in need of serious revision. Representatives of Ukraine, the United States and Europe plan to discuss this plan on Sunday in Switzerland.
“We are clear on the principle that borders should not be changed by force. We are also concerned about proposed restrictions on Ukraine’s armed forces, which could leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack,” the leaders of key European countries, as well as Canada and Japan said in a joint statement.
However, it notes that the draft “includes important elements that will be necessary for a just and sustainable world” and is “a framework that requires further work.”
“We welcome the continued efforts of the United States to achieve peace in Ukraine,” the statement emphasizes. Ukraine’s allies noted that they are ready to join the process in order to ensure the strength of the future world, and that the implementation of provisions relating to the European Union and NATO will require the consent of the EU and NATO members, respectively.
Earlier, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer said that Ukraine’s allies at the G20 meeting in South Africa would discuss the US peace plan and “look for ways to strengthen this plan for the next stage of negotiations.”
“There has not been a single day in this war when Ukraine did not call on Russia to stop its illegal invasion, withdraw its tanks and lay down its arms.
Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has been dragging its feet and continuing its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together – with both the United States and Ukraine – to ensure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” Starmer said.
Negotiations in Geneva
As previously reported, Ukraine and the United States will hold consultations in the coming days on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement. The Ukrainian delegation will be headed by the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Ermak, and will also include the head of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Kirill Budanov and six other people.
On Saturday it became known that the negotiations will take place on Sunday in Geneva, and in addition to representatives of Kyiv and Washington, Britain, France and Germany will participate in them.
“Adviser to the President of France tomorrow [в воскресенье] flies to Geneva with colleagues from the European trio (Britain, France and Germany),” AFP quotes an anonymous source.
“The negotiations will be between the United States, the European trio and the Ukrainians,” added the source with whom an AFP correspondent spoke at the G20 summit in South Africa.
CNN reported that the American delegation, led by Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, has already flown to Geneva, and will be joined on Sunday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff.
Driscoll, as AFP recalls, already met with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Kyiv last Thursday.
“Tonight [в субботу] we will have an informal preliminary meeting over dinner,” the agency’s source said.
Summit in South Africa
The G20 summit started on November 22. South Africa will be the first African state to host the summit, while the G20 meeting will be held for the first time without the leaders of the world’s largest countries.
US President Donald Trump refused to go to the summit, citing a “violation of the rights” of the white population in the country. Vice President J.D. Vance was supposed to go there, but three weeks before the event, Trump announced that no one from the US administration would go to South Africa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also refused to participate in the meeting: since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest, Putin has constantly had to reckon with the possibility of arrest abroad.
The head of the Russian delegation was Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin. Chinese President Xi Jinping also decided to cancel participation in the summit; instead, the Chinese delegation will be headed by Premier of the State Council Li Qiang.
Ukraine is not a member of the G20, so Starmer’s announced discussion of the US plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine took place without the US and Ukraine.
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was facing “one of the most difficult moments in history”: it was under pressure to accept the US peace plan, while leaks to the press showed it favored Moscow rather than Kyiv. It includes, among other things, the cession of eastern territories currently controlled by Ukraine. In addition, Ukraine will be obliged to reduce the size of its army and promise not to join NATO.
“We will not make sharp statements,” Zelensky wrote, “we are ready for clear and honest work – Ukraine, the United States and our friends in Europe and around the world.”
He acknowledged that Ukraine does not want to lose US support, but stressed that Ukraine needs a “dignified peace” on terms that respect its independence, sovereignty and the dignity of the Ukrainian people.
On the evening of November 21, after a conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Zelensky wrote: “We are ready to work quickly and constructively to make the plan work. We are coordinating common next steps.”
Putin, at a meeting with the Russian Security Council, confirmed that the United States had presented its peace plan, and it could become the “basis” for a settlement, although a detailed discussion of its terms has not yet taken place in the Kremlin. According to him, Russia is ready to “show flexibility,” but is also ready to continue the war.
Trump gave Ukraine until Thursday. According to him, Russian troops are advancing, Ukraine will soon lose even more territory and Zelensky will be forced to approve the plan. Ukraine has been dependent on American arms supplies and intelligence, which Washington has provided since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
United States Vice President J.D. Vance said on Friday that it was a “fantasy” to think that giving Ukraine more money and weapons and imposing more sanctions would bring victory to its hands.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, called the prospect of such a plan a “very dangerous moment.”
“We all want this war to end, but what matters is how it ends. Russia has absolutely no legal right to any concessions from the country it invaded; Ultimately, the terms of any agreement should be determined by Ukraine,” she was quoted as saying by Reuters.
On Friday, Zelensky held telephone conversations with Starmer and the leaders of France and Germany. Afterwards, the British Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine’s “friends and partners” remain committed to ensuring a “final and lasting peace.”
