U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed great optimism about being able to 'achieve something' while leading the U.S. delegation in Geneva after a day of intense negotiations related to the peace agreement for Ukraine. Rubio stated that Ukraine's concerns have been taken into account and will be incorporated into potential amendments to President Donald Trump's initial peace proposal. These statements came after high-ranking U.S. and Ukrainian officials affirmed that high-level talks in the Swiss city of Geneva brought them closer to ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to reports, the objective of the talks was to discuss Trump's peace plan for Ukraine, which raised concerns among many of Washington's European allies, who considered the plan too conciliatory towards Moscow. However, the top U.S. diplomat provided few details on how the progress would be made with his Ukrainian counterpart. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that his country might have to choose between defending its sovereign rights and maintaining the U.S. support it relies on, while also saying that Ukrainians will 'always defend' their homeland. In a statement released Sunday evening following the talks, the White House announced that the Ukrainian delegation 'stated that all its main concerns—security guarantees, long-term economic development, protection of infrastructure, freedom of navigation, and political sovereignty—were thoroughly addressed during the meeting.' It also added that Kyiv 'expressed its gratitude for the structured approach taken to incorporate its feedback into each component of the emerging framework of agreement,' noting that the changes introduced into the proposal now reflect 'its national interests' and provide 'credible and applicable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine's security in the short and long term.' Prior to the commencement of the talks, Trump attacked Ukraine for its lack of gratitude for American military aid, posting on his social media site, Truth Social, Sunday morning: 'The 'leadership' of Ukraine has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts, and Europe continues to buy oil from Russia.' Following the U.S. leader's post, Zelenskyy thanked the country and said that 'the crux of the entire diplomatic situation is that it was Russia, and Russia alone, that started this war.'
