00:00Well, talks between the US, several European countries and Ukraine are set to take place
00:06in Geneva later today.
00:07That's where DW's Jack Parrick is.
00:10Jack, at a place where history has been made before, what's the purpose of these talks
00:15about the so-called US peace plan for Ukraine?
00:21Well, what they're hoping is that they can move forward and find a way through this,
00:27essentially, not just related to Ukraine, but also to find a way through the Europeans'
00:34position related to the United States' position.
00:37When the 28-point peace plan was announced, there was, frankly, shock in Europe, especially
00:44among some of the major powers who were really concerned about the concessions that it seemed
00:51to give to Russia, many of them saying that this looks like a Russian wish list, especially
00:56when it came to ceding territory, Ukrainian territory, and also demands on the NATO military
01:02alliance and the reduction of the Ukrainian military.
01:05Many of these things were not considered OK.
01:08So then we have the meetings coming here in Geneva.
01:12Now, there's a lot we don't know about these meetings.
01:15Firstly, will they all be held in the same place?
01:18We don't know yet.
01:19Many of the participants are flying in hurriedly and will have to find a way in which they're
01:25going to do the choreography of this.
01:27And Radio Free Europe, for instance, is reporting that the European partners, so what are known
01:33as the E3, which is France, Germany and the United Kingdom, but also Italy and potentially
01:38some representation from the European Union, that they will meet with the Ukrainians and
01:44then separately, the Ukrainians will meet with the Americans, but that the Europeans and
01:50the Americans won't all be in the same room together, which seems quite uncommon.
01:55But it seems that the Americans want to try and get the ear of the Ukrainian negotiators
02:01and are really trying to pull them around to the US plan.
02:05OK, now, I believe Marco Rubio has been speaking as well.
02:11Jack, what has he had to say pre these meetings?
02:23Yeah, so we know that Marco Rubio is going to be attending, probably the most senior of
02:27the American attendees, along with some others, including Stephen Wyckoff.
02:31But yeah, Marco Rubio tweeted, say that the peace proposal was authored by the US.
02:36It's offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations based on input from the Russian
02:42side, but also on ongoing input from the Ukrainian side.
02:46Now, this is the real concern.
02:48The input from the Russian side is something that just is unacceptable to firstly Ukraine,
02:54but also the European partners who do not in any way, and you hear them repeatedly say
03:00this over the years, let alone in the last few days, they say that the aggressor, which
03:07is Russia, which invaded Ukraine, cannot be rewarded with its demands from the beginning
03:13of the war for waging the war, that that would set a very dangerous precedent internationally.
03:19So we'll have to wait and see.
03:20Will Marco Rubio be able to sort of persuade the European side over in any sense?
03:26We have heard from some German diplomatic sources to say that there has been something of a
03:32counter plan.
03:33Haven't seen it.
03:34Don't know what's included in that at all.
03:37But it appears that the Europeans are coming to Geneva with a sort of counter proposal to
03:42this American 28 point peace plan, which we heard, as we had already heard, Donald Trump
03:47said is seen for him even as a starting point.
03:50So it looks like there's possibility to change this around.
03:53A lot of scrambling going on, Jack.
03:56That said, everyone there's got experience at dealing with the Trump factor, including
03:59yourself.
04:00But there is this deadline.
04:02How seriously are negotiators taking President Trump's Thursday deadline to reach an agreement
04:08here?
04:08Well, they're definitely taking it seriously because it's, you know, something that he's
04:21laid down.
04:21But as anybody who has followed these sort of diplomatic talks knows, deadlines are sort
04:27of human inventions that can always be moved and shifted and temporary agreements can be
04:32put in place before the main agreement gets made.
04:34But the fact that everybody is arriving here in Geneva, getting into these talks, that shows
04:41that they are taking it seriously, I think.
04:43One more before we go.
04:45Is it even possible to come to an agreement on ending the war in Ukraine without Russian
04:50involvement there?
04:51Yeah, that's that's the real big question.
05:01And probably not.
05:04But this peace plan, I mean, a lot of people are saying that Trump's peace plan probably
05:08wouldn't require the Russians to come to any talks.
05:11They'd just sign off on it because it's exactly what they wanted.
05:13We don't we know that the Russians aren't attending the Geneva peace talks this time, but perhaps
05:20these talks could lay the ground for future meetings where the Russians could be involved.
05:27DW's Jack Parrick on the shores of Lake Geneva.
05:30Thanks so much.
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