The US and Ukraine say weekend peace talks in Geneva were "highly productive"
Delegations from both sides met in Switzerland to discuss a 28-point peace plan – the joint statement says there was "meaningful progress toward aligning positions and identifying clear next steps"
European leaders criticised the 28-point plan when it emerged last week, saying it too favourable to Russia – here's what was included in the proposal
A White House report of the Geneva talks says that "based on the revisions and clarifications presented today," the Ukrainians "believe the current draft reflects their national interests"
Ukraine is engaging with this process because it can't afford to lose US support, writes our correspondent Sarah Rainsford
Meanwhile, Russian attacks on Ukraine continue, with at least four people killed by a drone attack on Kharkiv on Sunday
Edited by Jamie Whitehead and Owen Amos
The talks between the US and Ukraine in Geneva have produced "decisive success" for Europeans, says the German foreign minister.
Johann Wadephul says issues concerning Europe, including an apparent ban on Ukraine joining Nato, have been removed from the 28-point peace plan.
"This is a decisive success that we achieved yesterday," he tells Germany's public-broadcasting radio station, Deutschlandfunk.
The German foreign minister also reiterated that "any agreement must not be reached over the heads of Europeans and Ukrainians".
As a reminder, we have yet to see the 28-point plan in full – or the "revisions and clarifications" that were, according to the US, agreed on Sunday.
A joint US-Ukraine statement said both sides "agreed to continue intensive work on joint proposals in the coming days"
Overnight, the White House said talks with Ukraine on a peace deal with Russia were "extensive and productive".
In a statement, the US administration said Ukraine’s officials recognised that "all of their principal concerns" – including security guarantees and political sovereignty – had been "thoroughly addressed" during the meeting.
The statement said there had been "revisions and clarifications" to the initial 28-point plan.
"They [Ukrainian officials] believe the current draft reflects their national interests and provides credible and enforceable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine’s security in both the near and long term," the US said.
"Both sides welcomed the steady progress made and agreed to continue consultations as the agreements move toward final refinement."
The White House statement followed remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told reporters "tremendous progress" had been made on reaching a peace deal.
As peace talks progressed in Geneva, Russian attacks on Ukraine continued on Sunday.
Russian drones struck the eastern city of Kharkiv, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
Four people died with another 17 wounded, according to the city's mayor Igor Terekhov.
"The circumstances are truly horrible when, despite the negotiations, Russian troops are attacking civilian objects, civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, when people are dying – this is horror," Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio came out of hours of talks to announce "tremendous progress", as he put it, and insist that there were just "a couple of issues" that would be resolved.
But he wouldn’t go into any details – and other reports suggest European officials have helped Kyiv push back against some key points of his proposed peace deal.
The first draft was so heavily skewed in favour of Russia, Rubio had to confirm that it had been written by Washington and not by the Kremlin.
Ukraine is engaging with this process, because it can’t afford to lose US support – and because Kyiv really does want peace.
But there is one demand on which it can’t compromise: Ukraine needs the US to give the most robust possible security guarantees, so that once this war is over, Russia never dares invade again. And it doesn’t have that yet.
Rubio said he would "love" an agreement to be reached by Thursday, when the US celebrates Thanksgiving, as Donald Trump initially demanded. But he said the new deadline was "as soon as possible".
Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter
Welcome back to our live coverage, after US and Ukrainian negotiators held talks in Geneva on a peace plan to end the war with Russia.
Overnight, the US and Ukraine released a joint statement describing the meeting as "highly productive". A separate report from the White House said "the meeting concluded with a shared understanding that today marked a significant step forward".
The 28-point plan, which emerged last week, has been cautiously welcomed by Russia, but not by leaders in Kyiv and Europe, who see it as too favourable to the Kremlin.
A White House report of the Geneva talks says that "based on the revisions and clarifications presented today," the Ukrainians "believe the current draft reflects their national interests".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there is "still some work to be done", while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says there are "signals that President [Donald] Trump's team is hearing us".
While the draft of the US-backed plan has not been published in full, major details have leaked in recent days.
This morning we’ll bring you all the reaction to the talks, as well as analysis on what’s happened so far and what could come next.
US (left) and Ukrainian delegations at the beginning of their talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday
The head of Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he is "very optimistic" about talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war after a "very good day" in Geneva.
A Ukrainian delegation has been holding talks with teams from the US and European allies, amid pressure from the White House to agree a 28-point plan which critics have argued would reward Russia for its invasion with territory and other concessions.
Days before the talks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country could face losing either its dignity or US support.
An outburst from President Donald Trump on Sunday – accusing Ukraine of showing "zero gratitude" for US efforts to end the war – suggested the talks were not going well.
Earlier in the day, a group of US senators said they had been told the plan under discussion had been effectively drawn up by Russia – which Rubio denied.
But after a meeting of high-level officials from the US and Ukraine – including Trump's son-in-law and Zelensky's right-hand man – Rubio said he believed substantial progress had been made.
He said some issues remain outstanding – without giving details – but said the US wants a deal done as soon as possible, and suggested an agreement with Ukraine could be made in a matter of days.
Zelensky, posting on social media, was slightly more guarded, welcoming the "reinvigorated" diplomacy and saying there are signals Trump's team "is hearing us".
Despite the positive messaging, our North America correspondent Sean Dilley says the day's talks have been "anything but routine or part of the plan".
Talks are expected to continue tomorrow. We're ending our live coverage now, but you can read more about today's talks here.
Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva
When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine’s chief negotiator Andriy Yermak first came out to talk the press early on Sunday evening, they took no questions, but insisted the talks had gone well.
They promised to come and talk to us again within a couple of hours. While we waited, I nipped out into the freezing Geneva evening for a few minutes (to talk to BBC World Service in fact), and saw, through the window of the room next to the media pen, the entire negotiating team.
Rubio, flanked by US envoy Steve Witkoff and US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
What I couldn’t see was who was on the other side of that big negotiating table, but we had been told the European delegation (the UK, France, and Germany all sent senior security officials to Geneva) were in the room.
Rubio was animated, gesticulating, and looking, from a distance, a trifle impatient. Oh to be a fly on the wall.
Then that second media briefing arrived – but no Ukraine this time, only the US. Alone, Rubio repeated that progress had been "substantial".
US Secretary of state Marco Rubio, talks to the press
On what exactly, he would not be drawn. Asked about Europe’s involvement, he said he had "walked them through" the US plan, and was "not aware" of any alternative proposals from the EU side.
This despite European leaders making clear that Ukraine’s borders must not be changed by force. The US plan envisages things Europe and Kyiv find deeply dismaying – not just giving territory to Russia, but reducing the size of its armed forces, and abandoning plans to join Nato.
And Rubio appeared to echo his boss President Donald Trump’s desire to get this deal done quickly. It might not be Thursday (the president’s suggestion), but it might be "Friday", "or Wednesday", or "next week". That’s a very short time to agree a genuine, sustainable peace in a complex war that has been raging for almost four years.
Russian media have reacted caustically to the changes in the 28-point peace plan being proposed by Ukraine's European allies.
"EU versus US," wrote Komsomolskaya Pravda war correspondent Alexander Kots on X.
"The EU is sabotaging the negotiations with its peace deal. To Trump's 28 points the Europeans brought 24 of their own. I will not list them all. You just need to look at a few to understand that the plan is stillborn…
"They will set out conditions that are unacceptable from the start which naturally we will reject. They will accuse us of not wanting peace."
The lead story for the Kommersant business newspaper says that Ukraine's European allies "are trying to amend Trump's plan for Ukraine to make it unacceptable for Moscow".
The Moskovsky Komsomolets daily says Trump's plan was received with "perfect hostility in Europe".
"Trump's plan posed a threat to their world order," it writes. "It turns out that Russia too can defend its interests."
A little earlier we brought you remarks from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was speaking to reporters after the latest round of talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva. Here's what we heard:
US and Ukrainian officials are discussing the possibility of Zelensky flying to the US this week, the BBC's US partner CBS News reports, citing multiple US and Ukrainian officials.
The trip would be dependent on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations in Geneva, officials tell CBS.
For context: It's a holiday week in the United States, with Thanksgiving on Thursday.
Sean Dilley
North America Correspondent, in Washington
Marco Rubio is selling today’s talks as somehow part of the US’s plan – insisting negotiations with Ukraine has been going on for around 96 hours.
In truth, today’s talks in Geneva are anything but routine or part of the plan.
European leaders, and those in Japan and Canada had made it clear they were unhappy that too much was being asked of Ukraine.
These talks though have sparked real momentum with Ukraine a very visible participant in any settlement.
Until last night, when Donald Trump told reporters America’s plan was not a final offer, many had perceived the proposal to be a take it or leave it ultimatum to Ukraine.
The president was clearly furious earlier today when he attacked Ukraine – claiming that they had shown “zero gratitude”.
Now, Marco Rubio says his boss – the Commander in Chief – is “quite pleased” with progress, which Rubio described as perhaps the best so far.
Work continues and President Zelensky has thanked the US again – stressing the need to find a peace deal that respects Ukraine’s dignity.
Shortly before Rubio spoke to the press, Zelensky posted again on social media, saying that as negotiations continue there are "signals that President Trump’s team hears us".
He said it is good that diplomacy has been “activated” and he expects Monday will also be an active day.
Tomorrow, the delegates in Geneva will keep working toward a peace plan, Rubio says.
The process to negotiate that plan has been ongoing the past three weeks, but has significantly sped up in the last 96 hours, he adds.
Rubio says he has not seen any European counter-proposal to the one being discussed the last few days.
It comes after several media outlets reported they had seen an alternative plan from European allies. The BBC has not seen the document.
And with that, the press conference ends.
Rubio is asked about whether the US is receptive to the idea of providing security guarantees.
He says he won't discuss the details of what is being worked on, but says: "We all recognise that part of getting a final end to this war will require for Ukraine to feel that it is safe."
"That's clearly something that has to be discussed, I think we've made substantial progress on that and other points," he says.
Rubio is asked about President Donald Trump's comments earlier that Ukraine is ungrateful for the US's support.
Rubio says he has spoken to Trump since he made those comments and that the president is now "quite pleased" about the progress the US delegation has made so far in the peace talks.
Asked about the issues that remain in the Ukraine war talks, Rubio says he won't go into detail, saying that this is a delicate moment.
Some the points of contention are about semantics, he says, while others require higher level decisions and consultation and others just need more time to work through.
This is a living, breathing document, Rubio says, adding that it changes every day as the interested parties give more input.
After saying how productive the peace talks have been today, Rubio says that still, he doesn't want to declare victory or finality just yet.
"There's still some work to be done, but we are much further ahead today at this time than we were when we began this morning and where we were a week ago, for certain," Rubio tells the gathered journalists.
Rubio, speaking to the press for the second time today, says negotiators have had a "very good day" and there has been "tremendous amount of progress" in talks about ending the war in Ukraine.
Over the last 96 hours or more there has been extensive engagement with Ukraine, he says.
There was one goal today, he says, to take the points of the plan – which he says were 26 or 28 depending on the version – and to try to narrow which ones were "open items".
He says the parties involved achieved that in a "substantial way", but adds any final agreement will have to be agreed by the presidents, and that there are still a couple of issues they need to continue to work on.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now speaking to reporters in Geneva about today's talks on ending the Ukraine war. We will bring you the top lines here.
Joe Inwood
World news correspondent
Whilst President Zelensky and his European allies have chosen their words carefully in reacting to the US Peace Plan, behind the scenes they will be horrified at many of its suggestions, not least the idea of handing over more territory and limiting the size of Ukraine’s armed forces.
But what if that were the point?
Donald Trump has gone from saying Zelensky has until next Thursday to accept the deal, to saying it is “not a final offer”. That last statement, made to reporters last night, coincided with the news that today’s talks would be taking place. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the plan gave “a strong framework for ongoing negotiations”.
There is a negotiating technique called “anchoring”, which Trump has employed and spoken about in the past. It involves starting negotiations with an outrageous or unrealistic proposal, throwing the other side off balance and shifting the debate to your territory.
The theory goes that you can then back down from your original position, allowing the other side to feel they have won, while in reality you have.
Could it be that the 28-point-plan was actually a form of anchoring?
John Foreman is a former British Defence Attache to Moscow. He told the BBC “the reaction that this was a 'take it or leave it' plan for the Americans was always wide at the mark. I think there was always room for further refinement and hopefully that's what we will see in Geneva this weekend.”
It is, of course, impossible to know for sure what was in the minds of the US negotiators who drafted these plans. Some have suggested that they were, in fact, written with Russian input, something Rubio has denied.
Whether they were designed to force compromise, or capitulation, could well be revealed by the success or failure of these talks.
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