European officials welcome progress in talks on US proposals to end Russia-Ukraine war

AP European bureaucrats commented Monday they were comforted by the outcome of discussions on U S peace proposals for Ukraine that they had viewed as tilted in Russia s favor but they didn t disclose details of the weekend talks and warned of a long road to peace The negotiations were a step forward but there are still major issues which remain to be resolved Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on social platform X about Sunday s meeting in Switzerland between U S and Ukrainian functionaries U S President Donald Trump suggested Monday that the process could be moving in the right direction Is it really viable that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine Don t believe it until you see it but something good just may be happening he wrote in a post on the Truth Social platform The talks in Geneva covered a -point peace plan presented last week by the United States that triggered alarm in Kyiv and European capitals by heavily favoring Moscow s demands and goals following its invasion of its neighbor nearly four years ago German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the interim product of the talks saying the U S proposal has now been modified in vital parts He cautioned however It was viable to clear up several questions but we also know that there won t be peace in Ukraine overnight The initial plan pressed Ukraine to consent to handing over various of its territory to Moscow and slashing the size of its army leaving it vulnerable The proposal also sought Europe s agreement that Ukraine will never be admitted into the NATO military alliance though the alliance has previously mentioned Ukraine is on an irreversible path to membership U K Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Ukraine s allies in the coalition of the willing a broad term for about countries supporting Kyiv will hold talks about the negotiations on Tuesday by video The surprise emergence of the peace plan coincided with a bleak period for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the war less than three months shy of its fourth anniversary It is under severe strain on the front line against Russia s bigger army it is short of money and Zelenskyy is trying to defuse a major corruption outrage that has tainted his executive Zelenskyy revealed the Ukrainian delegation was on its way home from Geneva to record on the talks after which the leadership would decide on next initiatives Talks offer hope The Geneva meeting offered certain hope for Kyiv Diplomacy has been reinvigorated and that s good Very good Zelenskyy noted late Sunday Russian leaders still haven t seen the revised peace plan text since amendments were made over the weekend a Kremlin spokesperson announced Monday Dmitry Peskov added that there was currently no plan in place for U S and Russian delegations to meet this week but that the Russian side remained open for such contacts Merz the German leader disclosed Moscow must now become engaged in the process The next step must be that Russia must come to the table he announced in Luanda Angola where he was attending a summit between African and European Union countries This is a laborious process It will move forward at preponderance in smaller strategies this week I do not expect there to be a breakthrough this week The chief diplomats of Germany Finland France the U K Italy and Poland consulted Monday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha on further policies toward ending the war according to the German Foreign Office German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul announced U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio who directed the talks in Switzerland made decisive positive contributions to ensuring that this plan can be accepted by both the European and Ukrainian sides I would like to say that all issues concerning Europe or NATO have been removed from this plan which is a decisive success that we achieved the day before today he narrated residents broadcaster Deutschlandradio without elaborating Rubio reported Sunday the talks were very worthwhile and constituted the majority productive day in a very long time I feel very optimistic that we can get something done Rubio disclosed Turkey is also hoping to build bridges between Russia and Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday Peskov the Kremlin spokesman announced Russian drones kill in Ukraine Meanwhile the grim reality of war still cast a pall over Ukraine as Russian forces kept up their deadly and devastating strikes on civilian areas Russian drones hit residential areas of Kharkiv Ukraine s second-largest city overnight killing four people and wounding including two children executives reported Eight residential buildings an educational facility and power lines were damaged in the attack according to the head of the regional military administration Oleh Syniehubov Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor s Office published photos showing homes on fire rubble scattered across backyards and firefighters and war crimes prosecutors working on site Ukraine s air force says Russia fired strike and decoy drones over the country overnight Russia also resumed its nighttime drone attacks on Ukraine s civilian and port infrastructure close to Romania s territory line the NATO member s Defense Ministry revealed Monday Romania scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoon jets and two F- s in response to drones near its confines the ministry noted