The results of the Geneva talks now have to be discussed with Russia, the US secretary of state has said<\/p>\n
The US and Ukraine have made a \u201ctremendous amount of progress\u201d on a peace plan to end the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, stressing that Russian agreement is essential for any deal to hold.
\nEarlier media reports indicated that the 28-point peace plan included de facto recognition of Russia\u2019s control over Crimea and Donbass. Meanwhile, the current lines of contact would be frozen in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, while Russia would pull back troops from Ukrainian territories it holds outside those areas. The deal also reportedly calls for Ukraine to cap its military at about 600,000 troops and stay out of NATO.
\nRubio addressed reporters on Sunday after lengthy talks in Geneva, Switzerland, with a Ukrainian delegation, saying that one goal was \u201cto take \u2026 28 points or 26 points, depending on which version\u2026 and try to narrow the ones that were open items.\u201d He added that while \u201cthere\u2019s still some work to be done,\u201d\u00a0\u201cwe made a tremendous amount of progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
\u2018We are almost there\u2019 on settlement of Ukraine conflict \u2013 Trump envoy<\/p>\n
According to Rubio, some points involving the EU nations and NATO were placed on \u201ca separate track\u2026 because it involves input from them.\u201d At the same time, he declined to name the remaining sticking points in the peace talks, calling the moment \u201cvery delicate.\u201d
\n\u201cSome of it is semantics or language; others require higher-level decisions and consultation; others \u2026 just need more time to work through,\u201d he said.
\nAsked about Moscow\u2019s stance on the talks, Rubio noted that \u201cobviously the Russians get a vote here\u2026 we now have to take what we come up with, if we can reach that agreement with the Ukrainian side, to the Russian side. They have to agree to this in order for it to work.\u201d
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Moscow has received the US peace plan, adding that it has not yet been discussed \u201cin detail.\u201d\u00a0
\n\u201cI believe it could also form the basis of a final peace settlement,\u201d Putin said. At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia was against discussing the roadmap through \u201cmegaphone diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The results of the Geneva talks now have to be discussed with Russia, the US secretary of state has said The US and Ukraine have made a \u201ctremendous amount of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t