KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s Western allies rallied around the war-torn country on Saturday as they pushed to revise a U.S. peace plan seen as favoring Moscow despite its all-out invasion of its neighbor. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed Ukrainians “will always defend” their home.
A Ukrainian delegation, bolstered by representatives from France, Germany and the U.K., is preparing for direct talks with Washington in Switzerland on Sunday.
The 28-point blueprint drawn up by the U.S. to end the nearly four-year war sparked alarm in Kyiv and European capitals, with Zelenskyy saying his country could face a stark choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving the American support it needs.
The U.S. plan foresees Ukraine handing over territory to Russia, something Kyiv has repeatedly ruled out, while reducing the size of its army and blocking its coveted path to NATO membership. It contains many of Moscow’s long-standing demands, while offering limited security guarantees to Kyiv.
On Saturday, leaders of the European Union, Canada and Japan issued a joint statement welcoming U.S. peace efforts, but pushed back against key tenets of the plan.
“We are ready to engage in order to ensure that a future peace is sustainable. We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack,” the statement said. It added that any decisions regarding NATO and the EU would require the consent of member states.
The leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. met during the day on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, to discuss ways to support Kyiv, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters at the summit that “wars cannot be ended by major powers over the heads of the countries affected,” and insisted Kyiv needed robust guarantees.
Merz added that envoys from Germany, France, the U.K. and the EU will join Ukrainian negotiators as they meet a U.S. delegation in Geneva on Sunday to discuss Washington's proposal. Zelenskyy confirmed the meeting on Saturday, after President Donald Trump set a deadline for Kyiv to respond to the plan by next Thursday.
European leaders have long warned against rushing a peace deal, seeing their own future at stake in Ukraine’s fight to beat back Russia, and insist on being consulted in peace efforts.
‘Quite a way from a good outcome’
Kyiv's key allies in Europe reiterated their reservations about the Kremlin's readiness to end the war.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but their actions never live up to their words,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters ahead of the G20 summit, days after a Russian strike on western Ukraine killed over two dozen civilians. Starmer later added that his national security adviser will be among Western envoys accompanying the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva.
European leaders have long accused Russia of stalling diplomatic efforts in the hope of overwhelming Ukraine's much smaller forces on the battlefield. Kyiv has repeatedly accepted U.S. ceasefire proposals this year, while Moscow has held out for more favorable terms.
“An end to the war can only be achieved with the unconditional consent of Ukraine,” Merz said during G20 summit briefing, adding that he had told Trump in a long phone call on Friday that Europe needed to be a part of any peace process, and that Russia had previously failed to keep its promises to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity.
"From my perspective, there is currently a chance to end this war,” Merz added. “But we are still quite a way from a good outcome for everyone.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that a key principle for Kyiv's European allies was “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
French President Emmanuel Macron echoed that sentiment in a speech at the G20 summit on Saturday, saying “there can be no peace in Ukraine without respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty.” He did not mention the U.S. peace plan.
Zelenskyy defiant as Ukraine remembers Soviet-era famine
Zelenskyy, in a video address published Saturday, said Ukrainian representatives at the Geneva talks “know how to protect Ukrainian national interests and exactly what is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out” another invasion. “Real peace is always based on security and justice,” he added.
Nine officials are to take part in the talks, including Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak and top envoy Rustem Umerov, according to a statement posted on the Ukrainian presidency’s website, which also stated that the negotiators are empowered to deal directly with Russia.
On Saturday, Ukraine commemorated the “great famine” that Soviet leader Josef Stalin imposed in the early 1930s, which led to millions of deaths.
“We all know how and why millions of our people died, starved to death, and millions were never born. And we are once again defending ourselves against Russia, which has not changed and is once again bringing death,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram marking Holodomor Memorial Day.
“We defended, defend, and will always defend Ukraine. Because only here is our home. And in our home, Russia will definitely not be the master,” he added.
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