US secretary of state Marco Rubio and the chief of staff for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said the two countries held a productive meeting on Sunday in Geneva on a proposal to end the war with Russia.
Neither Rubio nor the Ukrainian representative, Andriy Yermak, took questions about the talks, which were to continue on Sunday and in the coming days.
The Trump administration has been pressuring Kyiv to accept the 28-point proposal, which contains provisions that Ukraine has long rejected, by Thursday.
As the officials met, President Donald Trump wrote on social media that Ukraine’s leadership had “EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE” for American military aid and other support since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Zelensky soon posted his own message, saying Ukraine was “grateful for everything that America and President Trump are doing for security.”
Trump’s complaint could increase the pressure on the Ukrainian President to accede to the 28-point peace plan, which includes many of the maximalist demands Moscow has made throughout the war. On Friday, Zelensky said the plan amounted to one of the most difficult moments in the country’s history.
Trump’s comment, which he shared in a post on social media, was only the latest expression of disdain for the Ukrainian leadership that he has made since his return to office.
“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS,” Trump said.
Although he did not mention Zelensky directly, Trump has frequently raised similar complaints about the Ukrainian President, whom he described in February as a “dictator without elections” in echoing a demand by Russia that Ukraine hold a presidential election, which are suspended under martial law.
In Geneva on Sunday, Rubio interrupted the meeting to speak to reporters, saying that the talks had been probably the best the US had held with Ukraine since Trump returned to power.
He said changes would be made to the plan to work towards a solution that both Ukraine and the US were comfortable with.
“Obviously this will ultimately have to be signed off with our Presidents, although I feel very comfortable about that happening given the progress we’ve made,” said Rubio, who arrived in Geneva with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Yermak was at pains to thank Trump for his commitment to Kyiv during the brief remarks, before he and Rubio returned to their talks. Minutes later, Zelenskiy himself offered thanks to Trump.
Since the US plan was announced, there has been confusion about who was involved in drawing it up. European allies said they had not been consulted.
As officials began meeting, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the goal was to craft a plan acceptable to Ukraine which could be used in a negotiation with Russia.
“Right now, I’m not yet convinced we’re going to get the solution President Trump wants in the next few days,” Merz said on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Johannesburg.
New York Times News Service and Reuters