Diplomats face an uphill battle to reconcile Russian and Ukrainian 鈥渞ed lines鈥� as a renewed U.S.-led push to end the war gathers steam, with Ukrainian officials attending talks in the U.S. over the weekend and Washington officials .
U.S. President Donald , sparking alarm that it was too favorable to Moscow. It was revised following talks in Geneva between the U.S. and Ukraine a week ago.
Ukraine鈥檚 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the revised plan could be 鈥渨orkable.鈥� Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a possible 鈥渂asis鈥� for a future peace agreement. Trump said Sunday 鈥渢here鈥檚 a good chance we can make a deal.鈥�
Still, officials on both sides indicated a long road ahead as key sticking points 鈥� over whether Kyiv should cede land to Moscow and how to ensure Ukraine’s future security 鈥� appear unresolved.
Here is where things stand and what to expect this week:
US holds talks with Kyiv then Moscow
Trump representatives met the Ukrainian officials over the weekend and plan to meet with the Russians in coming days.
Ukraine鈥檚 national security council head Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine鈥檚 armed forces , presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz and others met with U.S. officials for about four hours on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the session was productive but more work remains. Umerov praised the U.S. for its support but offered no details.
Zelenskyy鈥檚 former chief of staff and former lead negotiator for Ukraine, amid a corruption scandal and is no longer part of the negotiating team. It was only a week ago that Rubio met with Yermak in Geneva, resulting in a revised peace plan.
Trump said last week that he would send his envoy . Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that Putin will meet Witkoff on Tuesday afternoon.
Trump suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelenskyy, but not until there has been more progress.
Witkoff鈥檚 role in the peace efforts came under scrutiny last week following a report , Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, on how Russia鈥檚 leader should pitch Trump on the Ukraine peace plan. Both Moscow and Washington downplayed the significance of the revelations.
Where the two sides stand
Eager to please Trump, Kyiv and Moscow have ostensibly welcomed the peace plan and the push to end the war. But Russia has continued attacking Ukraine and reiterated its maximalist demands, indicating a deal is still a ways off.
that he will fight as a long as it takes to achieve his goals, saying that he will stop only when Ukrainian troops withdraw from all four Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally annexed in 2022 and still doesn鈥檛 fully control. 鈥淚f they don鈥檛 withdraw, we鈥檒l achieve this by force. That鈥檚 all,鈥� he said.
The plan, Putin said, 鈥渃ould form the basis for future agreements,鈥� but it is in no way final and requires 鈥渁 serious discussion.鈥�
Zelenskyy has refrained from talking about individual points, opting instead to thank Trump profusely for his efforts and emphasizing the need for Europe 鈥� whose interests are more closely aligned with Ukraine’s 鈥� to be involved. He also has stressed the importance of robust security guarantees for Ukraine.
The granted some core Russian demands that Ukraine considers nonstarters, such as ceding land to Moscow that it doesn鈥檛 yet occupy and renouncing its bid to become a member of NATO.
Zelenskyy has said repeatedly that giving up territory is not an option. One of the Ukrainian negotiators, Bevz, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Ukraine鈥檚 president wanted to discuss the territory issue with Trump directly. Yermak then told The Atlantic in an interview on Thursday that Zelenskyy would not sign over the land.
Zelenskyy also maintains that NATO membership is the cheapest way to guarantee Ukraine鈥檚 security, and NATO鈥檚 32 member countries said last year that Ukraine is on to membership. Since he took office, Trump has made it clear that NATO membership is off the table.
Moscow, in turn, has bristled at any suggestion of a Western peacekeeping force on the ground in Ukraine, and stressed that keeping Ukraine out of NATO and NATO out of Ukraine was one of the core goals of the war.
Putin seems to have time on his side
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has been under pressure at home.
Yermak鈥檚 resignation was a major blow for Zelenskyy, although neither the president nor Yermak have been accused of wrongdoing by investigators.
鈥淩ussia really wants Ukraine to make mistakes. There won鈥檛 be mistakes on our side,” Zelenskyy said. “Our work continues, our struggle continues. We don鈥檛 have a right not to push it to the end.鈥�
An activist with Ukraine’s nongovernmental Anti-Corruption Center, Valeriia Radchenko, said letting go of Yermak was the right decision and would open a 鈥渨indow of opportunity for reform.鈥�
Putin, meanwhile, seeks to project confidence, boasting of Russia鈥檚 advances on the battlefield.
The Russian leader 鈥渇eels more confident than ever about the battlefield situation and is convinced that he can wait until Kyiv finally accepts that it cannot win and must negotiate on Russia鈥檚 well-known terms,鈥� Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center wrote on X. 鈥淚f the Americans can help move things in that direction 鈥� fine. If not, he knows how to proceed anyway. That is the current Kremlin logic.鈥�
Europe’s conundrum
NATO and the EU are holding several meetings this week focused on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy is holding n in Paris on Monday. In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is hosting Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal and EU defense and foreign ministers are gathering to discuss European military support for Ukraine and Europe鈥檚 defense readiness.
On Wednesday, NATO foreign ministers will gather again in Brussels.
The main issue for the EU right now is what to do with the frozen Russian assets in Belgium that the Trump peace plan in its initial version .
Those funds are central to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen鈥檚 strategy to ensure continued help for Ukraine while also maintaining pressure on Russia. But Belgium鈥檚 prime minister is holding out, worried about the legal implications of tapping the frozen assets for Ukraine, the impact that could have on the euro 鈥� and of Russian retaliation.
The diplomacy set in motion by Trump’s peace plan 鈥減ainfully exposed鈥� Europe’s weakness, Nigel Gould-Davies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies wrote in a recent commentary.
鈥淒espite being the main source of Ukraine鈥檚 economic and military support, it is marginal to the diplomacy of the war and has done little more than offer amendments to America鈥檚 draft peace plan,鈥� Gould-Davies wrote.
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