What does the new peace plan developed by the US and Ukraine in Geneva propose / The 19-point project leaves important decisions pending / What's next

There has been talk of Trump possibly hosting Zelenskiy in Washington this week to cement the deal.

But some members of the Ukrainian president's circle recommended him to stay in Kiev, in order not to risk a new confrontation with Trump that could compromise the progress made over the weekend, writes the Financial Times.

A few things from the original version

The new draft, said Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislitia, bears no resemblance to the earlier version of the leaked peace proposal that caused a stir in Kiev.

“There's very little left from the original version,” he said.

Kislitia said the US side appeared willing to withdraw the proposal to reduce the Ukrainian army to 600,000 troops. He said that American negotiators listened carefully to Ukrainian arguments and agreed to take these points into account.

“They agreed that the number of the Ukrainian army in the leaked version (of the draft peace plan) – regardless of who drafted it – was no longer in question,” he said. “The army will continue to discuss the arrangements,” the official added.

A proposal for a blanket amnesty for potential war crimes in the original draft was redrafted in a way that would address “the grievances of those who suffered in the war,” he said.

One step away from failure

Although the negotiations ended on a positive note, they had hardly begun, according to Kislitia, who described the atmosphere in Geneva on Sunday morning as “very tense”.

The Americans arrived frustrated by the leaks to the press in the days leading up to the meeting and the public debate over the origin of the first draft proposal.

The talks were led on the Ukrainian side by Zelenskiy's powerful chief of staff Andrii Iermak and National Security and Defense Council secretary Rustem Umerov, with Kislitia and a group of military officers and intelligence officials playing a supporting role from Kiev.

The US delegation included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Trump's special envoy for Russia Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose presence initially surprised Ukrainian officials.

Kislitia said the Americans were attentive, willing to listen to the Ukrainians' point of view and open to suggestions. “Almost everything we suggested was taken into consideration,” he said.

A separate session later that day brought together European allies, including representatives from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the EU institutions. Before the talks with the US, Ukraine held private talks with European national security advisers to coordinate positions and identify common priorities, Kislitia said.

Washington must now decide how and when to present the draft peace agreement to Russia. The Kremlin said on Monday that it had not yet seen or been informed of the US-Ukraine project.

The initial peace plan for Ukraine drawn up by the United States in collaboration with Russia, it included 28 points and required Kiev to give up territories it still controls in the east of the country, limit the size of its army and accept that it will never join NATO.