Rubio welcomes huge progress in Ukraine peace talks from Switzerland meeting

(Patria) - Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that "huge progress" has been made in negotiations to finalize the peace plan proposed by the United States to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, the BBC reported late last night.

But "there is still work to be done," Rubio said after a meeting with Ukrainian and European negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there are "signals that President (Donald) Trump's team is hearing us".

Ukraine and its European allies have expressed concern over leaked proposals, which are seen as favoring Russia, and Vladimir Putin has welcomed them as a "basis" for a solution.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine "could face a very difficult choice - either lose dignity or risk losing a key partner".

Addressing reporters late Sunday, Rubio said the negotiating teams in Geneva had a "very good day". He said the main goal was to try to narrow down the "open items" from the 28-point US plan, and that the parties involved had achieved this in a "significant way".

However, the US chief diplomat added that any final agreement would have to be reached by the Ukrainian and US presidents before the package is sent to Russia, and that there are still several issues they need to continue working on.

Several media outlets reported seeing an alternative plan from Kyiv's European allies, led by the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Rubio denied any knowledge of its existence.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump accused Ukrainian leaders of showing "no gratitude" for US efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Trump also pointed out that Europe, where Kyiv has some of its staunchest allies, continues to buy oil from Russia.

Moscow relies heavily on oil and gas exports to continue financing its war in Ukraine. The Geneva talks focus on the US draft, a leaked version of which includes the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from part of the eastern Donetsk region currently under their control, and de facto Russian control over Donetsk, as well as the neighboring Luhansk region, along with the southern peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014.

The plan also includes freezing the borders of the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia along the current front lines. Both regions are partially occupied by Russia.

The plan limits the Ukrainian army to 600,000 personnel from the current approximately 880,000 and Ukraine's promise not to seek NATO membership. Instead, Kyiv would receive "reliable security guarantees" about which no details were given.

The plan states that Russia is "expected" not to attack its neighbors and that NATO will not expand further. The draft suggests that Russia will "reintegrate into the global economy" by lifting sanctions and inviting Russia to rejoin the G7 group of the world's most powerful countries - thus becoming the G8 again.

Russia currently controls about twenty percent of Ukrainian territory, and its troops are making slow progress along a vast front line, despite reported heavy losses.

Trump gave Ukraine until next Thursday to agree to the proposals. But he then said this was not his "final offer" to Kyiv, after Ukraine's allies from Europe, Canada, and Japan expressed concern.

Rubio told reporters on Sunday that he was "very optimistic that we will get there in a very reasonable amount of time very soon," whether it was Thursday, other days, or Monday next week.