White House Hails Progress in Talks With Ukraine to End War With Russia

Top U.S. officials met with Ukraine representatives in Geneva to discuss Trump’s proposal

By Michael R. Gordon, Brian Schwartz and Matthew Luxmoore, The Wall Street Journal, Updated Nov. 23, 2025 9:25 pm ET; see also

The White House hailed what it called constructive talks with Ukraine in Geneva on Sunday, saying the two sides had modified the Trump administration’s proposed plan for ending the war with Russia.

The White House released a statement that didn’t provide details but said the talks had been constructive and had resulted in an “updated and refined peace framework.” It added that any deal “must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and deliver a sustainable and just peace.”

The declaration, which the White House labeled as a joint statement between the U.S. and Ukraine, made clear that the two sides had work remaining to get to a final agreement but noted that they had agreed to “continue intensive work on joint proposals in the coming days.”

The Trump administration had spurred anxiety in Europe and Ukraine by crafting a 28-point plan that critics said infringed on Ukraine’s sovereignty and security.

President Trump had given Ukraine a Thursday deadline to respond to the proposal, which would require that Kyiv cede territory to Russia, block its ambitions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and cap the size of its military. Another significant provision precluded the deployment of a European-led “reassurance force” in Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks. 

The challenge for Kyiv has been to avoid a confrontation with Trump while finding a way to rework the plan, which was drafted with the involvement of Kremlin confidant Kirill Dmitriev and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. 

As concern about the plan from European allies mounted, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had cast it in a social-media message as “a list of potential ideas” that could be developed further and not a take-it-or-leave it plan.

The U.S. delegation to the Geneva talks on Sunday was led by Rubio, who suggested that the U.S. has some flexibility on a deadline for wrapping up the plan. 

“The important point today is that we have made substantial progress. We’ve really moved forward,” said Rubio, who declined to identify the remaining points of disagreement in the talks. 

Other U.S. participants in the talks included Witkoff, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the U.S. Air Force general who serves as the top NATO commander. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff.

Trump had lashed out earlier in the day at European and Ukrainian officials who have been critical of the White House’s initial plan. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the war a “loser” for everyone and said Ukrainian leaders had expressed “zero” gratitude for U.S. efforts. He said Europeans continue to buy oil from Russia.

Although he declined to provide details, Rubio said that U.S. and Ukrainian officials had gone through the U.S. proposal point by point. Officials from the two sides were “making some changes, some adjustments in the hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to something that both Ukraine and obviously the United States are very comfortable with,” he said.

Yermak said talks would continue in coming days to refine and align proposals in consultation with European officials.

The U.S. and Europe agreed to discuss provisions involving NATO and the European Union on a separate track from talks with Ukraine, Rubio said.

Zelensky thanked Trump for his efforts a short time after Trump posted on social media, but he suggested further work needed to be done to settle on a final agreement, which will need to be approved by the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents.

“It’s important to not forget the main goal—to stop the Russian war and prevent it from breaking out again in the future,” Zelensky wrote on social media. “That’s why we’re so carefully working on every point, on every step toward peace.” 

But weighting the deal more toward Ukraine may spur Russian opposition.

Rubio said the U.S. side has a good understanding of Russia’s demands. Russian President Vladimir Putin had said the Trump administration’s initial plan might serve as a basis for an eventual accord. But Russia has yet to respond publicly to the amended plan.

Zelensky has rallied European allies behind Ukraine’s push to adjust key clauses of the Trump administration’s initial proposal. Some Europeans went to Geneva to support Zelensky and back him on changes to the 28-point plan.

In a statement on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in South Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out three principles European governments believe a deal should rest on.

First, that borders can’t be changed by force. Second, that there must not be limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces. And third, that the European Union’s role and interests should be reflected.

That includes an understanding that third parties can’t decide the fate of the bloc’s own sanctions and can’t, as Trump’s initial plan seeks, decide on Ukraine’s integration into the EU’s internal market.

Britain, France and Germany also had a revised draft of the Trump plan, with changes they want the U.S. to adopt, including the insistence that peace talks between Ukraine and Russia follow a cease-fire on the current front lines.

The European changes—included in a draft, which was earlier reported by Reuters but confirmed by a senior European official—also set the cap for the Ukrainian military at 800,000 personnel versus 600,000 in the U.S. document. That draft doesn’t ban Ukraine from NATO but says Kyiv’s entry requires a consensus among alliance members that “doesn’t exist.”

The European draft also opens the way for a possible reassurance force in Ukraine, saying that the alliance would agree not to “permanently station troops under its command in Ukraine in peacetime.” A reassurance force may not be under NATO command.

The document also addresses key European interests, including the need to use immobilized Russian central bank assets held in Europe to support Ukraine and its recovery. Most of the $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets frozen in Western countries are in Europe and are under EU or U.K. sanctions.

Asked Sunday about the European proposals, Rubio said, “I haven’t seen any counterplans.”

Write to Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com, Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com and Matthew Luxmoore at matthew.luxmoore@wsj.com