Scandals, shake-ups, shifting terms: Highlights from this week's Ukraine peace talks

Key questions

• What did Ukraine and the US agree on in Geneva?
• How did Russia react to the talks?
• What is expected next?

This week, peace negotiations continued, once again moving off dead center with the arrival in Ukraine of the new US envoy Dan Driscoll. At least on the Ukrainian-American track, they produced constructive results. So, US President Donald Trump canceled the deadline for reaching agreements that he himself had set – Thanksgiving Day in the US on November 27.

Talks in Geneva

After Driscoll briefed Ukraine’s president on the details of the new plan, the Ukrainian and American delegations met in Geneva for a substantive discussion.

The talks were attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, as well as Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Ukraine was represented by a delegation led by Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak.

The final statement says the consultations were extremely productive. National Security and Defense Council secretary Rustem Umerov, who was a member of the Ukrainian delegation, noted that the updated plan reflects most of Kyiv’s priorities.

According to RBC-Ukraine’s sources, the sides managed to approve most of the provisions of the US plan. A significant portion of the disputed points was adjusted. Among other things, this concerns the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the format of prisoner exchanges, and the return of convicted persons.

The points concerning territories and enshrining Ukraine’s non-entry into NATO in the Constitution, according to RBC-Ukraine, were agreed by the delegations to be put in brackets – to be discussed and approved by Zelenskyy and Trump.

Certain topics are to be considered in other formats, including the restoration of economic interaction between Washington and Moscow – in the US-Russia channel, an informed RBC-Ukraine source said. Some issues may also be discussed in the US-EU format.

During the discussion, the Ukrainian delegation and the military present provided explanations on the necessary size of the Armed Forces under different conditions – both in peacetime and wartime.

“The words 'limited to 600,000' were basically removed. Instead, the word 'remains' is used, followed by the rest of the sentence in the revised version. And the word 'remains' has nothing to do with 'limited',” an informed RBC-Ukraine interlocutor explained.

The new version of the plan will also remove the provision on amnesty for crimes committed during the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The meeting in Abu Dhabi and Russia’s reaction

The provisions developed in Geneva were presented by Driscoll to the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi on November 24–25. As his spokesperson Jeff Tolbert later explained, the talks went “well.” US representatives were “optimistic.” According to CNN, Driscoll’s meeting with the Russians is intended to lay the groundwork for higher-level engagement. Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov also flew to the UAE for the talks.

On November 24, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the US peace plan “could become a very good basis for negotiations.” Later, Russian preisdent Vladimir Putin personally stated that the 28-point US “peace plan” (presented ahead of the negotiations in Geneva – ed.) could be used as the basis for future agreements. According to him, there were allegedly no draft peace agreements – only a “set of questions” for discussion and final drafting.

“And, as I have publicly announced, it was passed to us through certain channels. We reviewed it. After that, negotiations took place in Geneva between the American delegation and the Ukrainian delegation. And they, as I understand it, decided that all 28 points should be divided into four separate components,” Putin said on November 27.

He also confirmed that Russia has already received the post-Geneva version of the peace plan. The Kremlin agrees that it may serve as a basis for negotiations. Yet, he said, talking about final versions would be “impolite” – since no final versions exist. Some things, according to Putin, allegedly have a “very fundamental character.” The Russian leader added that Russia would agree to a cessation of hostilities if Ukraine leaves the captured territories.

Witkoff scandal

Against the backdrop of the negotiations, a scandal erupted in the US around the special representative for Russia, Steven Witkoff. On November 26, Bloomberg published a transcript of Witkoff’s conversation with Ushakov, in which he advised Putin’s aide on how to present Russia’s proposals on peace in Ukraine to the US president.

A number of members of Congress and US politicians were outraged by the leak of Witkoff’s conversation with the Russians. US Representative Ted Lieu called him a “traitor.” Another congressman, Don Bacon, urged that Witkoff be fired, calling him a Russian agent.

However, Trump’s own reaction was restrained. According to him, there was nothing unusual in what happened.

“You know, because he's got to sell this to Ukraine. He's got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That's what he is. That's what a dealmaker does. You got to say, 'Look, they want this. You've got to convince them with this.' You know, that's a very standard form of negotiation,” the US president said.

There are several versions of who exactly and why gave Bloomberg the recordings: either part of the American establishment interested in leaking the talks, or Russia itself for the same reasons, or even Ukrainian intelligence to weaken Witkoff’s position in the White House. However, there is still little data on how the scandal has affected the official’s standing.

Europe’s role

European leaders were also indirectly involved in the talks. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz once again stated that Europe must agree to the peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, since it affects European interests and sovereignty.

According to The New York Times, European diplomats were present in Kyiv last week to hear how US representatives would present their peace plan. During the discussion, Driscoll tried to convince Europeans to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. He said that Moscow had been launching missiles at Ukraine for years as fast as it could. But now Russia allegedly produces enough to accumulate a growing stockpile of long-range weapons.

At the same time, Europe prepared an alternative peace plan. Ultimately, part of its provisions were added to the American plan.

“And the strong consensus was that we should work with the text that's in existence, unacceptable, although some parts of it are, because other parts are essential, rather than a different text,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on November 25.

French President Emmanuel Macron also announced the creation of a new working group within the Coalition of the Willing, which will deal with security guarantees for Ukraine. Such guarantees are mentioned, among other things, in the draft peace plan. Throughout this year, EU countries have been developing details regarding a possible deployment of a contingent in Ukraine.

For her part, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas declared that Russia must make concessions to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. In her view, the agreement must impose obligations on Russia, including limiting the size of its army and its military spending.

What to expect next

Following the talks in Geneva, the Ukrainian side had already announced its desire to hold a new meeting between Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump in the near future. Among the proposals was even the date of November 27 – the US Thanksgiving holiday. However, Trump stated that his meeting with Zelenskyy and Putin would take place only when a peace agreement is ready. Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy’s trip to European countries is scheduled for next week.

To finalize joint positions, Dan Driscoll is expected to come to Kyiv again. According to the now former head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, there is already a solid basis developed in Geneva, and President Zelenskyy and the entire team in Kyiv are fully committed to further work.

Next week, a new trip by US special envoy on Russia Steven Witkoff to Moscow is also expected. Therefore, further progress in the negotiations will depend on whether Russia wants to discuss the points of the new plan proposed to it, as well as on Ukraine’s ability to defend its own red lines and explain their importance to the United States. Additionally, the situation is complicated by internal political chaos in Ukraine. According to Axios, Yermak’s resignation happened right before his scheduled visit to the US for talks on the peace plan with Trump’s circle.