European talks on US peace plan for Ukraine get underway

DW (English)

The US 28-point plan for Ukraine has sent European counterparts scrambling. Ukrainian and European delegates are rushing to Geneva to discuss what some call Russia's "wish list." DW's Jack Parrock has more on the ground.

Transcript

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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