US plan for Ukraine needs ‘additional work’, say Kyiv’s allies at G20 summit – as it happened | Ukraine

• The unilateral US plan to end the war in Ukraine “is a basis which will require additional work”, western leaders gathered in South Africa for a G20 summit said on Saturday. The leaders of key European countries as well as Canada and Japan said in a joint statement: “We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.”

• Ukraine and the US are launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end the war, a Ukrainian negotiator said on Saturday, after Washington sent Kyiv a plan which accepts some of Moscow’s demands. “In the coming days in Switzerland we are launching consultations between senior officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement,” the secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, Rustem Umerov, who is on Ukraine’s negotiating team, wrote on social media.

• US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a peace deal in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future. The US army secretary Dan Driscoll briefed ambassadors from Nato nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelenskyy and taking a phone call from the White House. “No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that real peace is always based on guaranteed security and justice. “Our representatives know how to protect Ukraine’s national interests and what exactly is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out a third invasion, another blow to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address where he announced talks with Ukraine’s partners on steps to end the war, reports Reuters.

• Zelenskyy has said it is “important” that “all partners … are fully informed about the situation” following a phone call with Poland’s Donald Tusk. The call took place earlier today and the pair discussed the US-Russia ‘peace deal’.

• German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had made clear to US president Donald Trump that Europe needs to be a part of any process to end the war in Ukraine in a long phone call on Friday evening. “If Ukraine loses this war and possibly collapses, it will have an impact on European politics as a whole, on the entire European continent. And that is why we are so committed to this issue,” Merz said after the G20 summit in Johannesburg.

• Italy will send an official to join Ukraine talks in Geneva on Sunday with national security advisors from the E3 countries and the European Union, as well as US and Ukrainian officials, diplomatic sources said. The sources said Fabrizio Saggio would represent Italy.

• Ukraine said it had received 31 civilians on Saturday who had been freed from jail in Belarus. “Women and men detained in Belarus and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s prisoner exchange coordination committee said on the Telegram messaging app.

• The G20 group of major world economies is “at risk” as it struggles to tackle international crises, French president Emmanuel Macron told a summit boycotted by the United States on Saturday. Macron was among two dozen world leaders at South Africa’s G20 summit marked by the absence of President Donald Trump, who is at loggerheads with South Africa on a range of issues.

• EU leaders will meet on Monday during an EU-Africa summit in Luanda to discuss a US-drafted peace proposal for Ukraine, European Council president Antonio Costa said on Saturday. “The US draft of the 28-point plan includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace,” Costa said in a post on X.

• Any peace plan for Ukraine must be accepted in Kyiv, Polish president Karol Nawrocki said, after the US signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end its conflict with Russia. Washington’s 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join Nato. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

• UK prime minister Keir Starmer will not visit Washington next week, it is understood, amid reports that European leaders are considering visiting Donald Trump to discuss his Ukraine peace plan, reports the PA news agency. France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni are among the leaders who are considering a trip, Sky News reported citing European diplomatic sources. But it is understood the UK was not involved in such discussions.

• The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had captured two villages in eastern Ukraine. It said Russian forces had taken control of the village of Zvanivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region as well as the settlement of Nove Zaporizhzhia in the Zaporizhizhia region.

• A Ukrainian drone attack targeted energy facilities in Russia’s Samara region, killing two people in the southern city of Syzran, the region’s governor said on Saturday. The attack was repelled by air defence forces, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev wrote on Russia’s state-backed Max messenger app, reports Reuters.

The unilateral US plan to end the war in Ukraine “is a basis which will require additional work”, western leaders gathered in South Africa for a G20 summit said on Saturday.

The leaders of key European countries as well as Canada and Japan said in a joint statement:

We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force.

We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that real peace is always based on guaranteed security and justice.

“Our representatives know how to protect Ukraine’s national interests and what exactly is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out a third invasion, another blow to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address where he announced talks with Ukraine’s partners on steps to end the war, reports Reuters.

Seperately, Zelenskyy posted on X about a meeting he had held earlier in the day with the leaders of Nordic and Baltic countries. He wrote:

I briefed them on our work with American and European partners on the plan for ending the war and our next steps. From the very first days of this war, Ukraine has sought a dignified peace like no one else, and we are doing everything on our side to work as substantively as possible.

I thank each leader for their support of Ukraine and Ukrainians, our fight for freedom, our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We deeply value the solidarity and understanding of positions that are fundamental for Ukraine.

The G20 group of major world economies is “at risk” as it struggles to tackle international crises, French president Emmanuel Macron told a summit boycotted by the United States on Saturday.

Macron was among two dozen world leaders at South Africa’s G20 summit marked by the absence of President Donald Trump, who is at loggerheads with South Africa on a range of issues.

“The G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle,” the French leader told the gathering in Johannesburg, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Macron said:

We are living in a moment of geopolitics in which we are struggling to resolve major crises together around this table, including with members who are not present today.

He referred specifically to a new unilateral US plan to end the war in Ukraine that accepts some of Russia’s hardline demands.

European leaders in Johannesburg met on the sidelines of the G20 to discuss counter-proposals.

“There can be no peace in Ukraine without Ukrainians, without respect for their sovereignty,” Macron repeated.

The G20 is made up of 19 countries, including Russia, as well as the European Union and African Union regional groupings. It was struggling to establish common ground on issues such as humanitarian law and sovereignty, Macron said.

World leaders needed to acknowledge that “the G20 is at risk if we do not collectively re-engage around a few priorities,” Macron said, adding:

We must absolutely demonstrate that we have concrete actions to re-engage this forum and provide responses for our economies collectively around this table.

Ukraine said it had received 31 civilians on Saturday who had been freed from jail in Belarus.

“Women and men detained in Belarus and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s prisoner exchange coordination committee said on the Telegram messaging app.

“We express our gratitude to the United States of America and president Donald Trump for their fruitful work in returning Ukrainian civilians and military personnel from Belarus and Russia,” it added.

Ukraine and the US are launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end the war, a Ukrainian negotiator said on Saturday, after Washington sent Kyiv a plan which accepts some of Moscow’s demands.

“In the coming days in Switzerland we are launching consultations between senior officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement,” the secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, Rustem Umerov, who is on Ukraine’s negotiating team, wrote on social media.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had minutes earlier approved the Ukrainian delegation for the talks, which will be led by his top aide Andriy Yermak, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

UK prime minister Keir Starmer has met France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz at the Johannesburg G20 summit to discuss the US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war.

The gathering is then expected to be expanded to include a dozen leaders including from Japan, Canada, Italy, Norway and the European Union, reports the PA news agency.

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and French president Emmanuel Macron discussed Ukraine on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa, the Canadian government said on Saturday.

The two leaders reaffirmed their support and stressed that any settlement to the war in Ukraine must involve Kyiv, respect Ukraine’s core interests and provide security guarantees, the Canadian government said in a statement.

Carney committed to working with allies to reach a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, it said.

US tells Nato if Zelenskyy does not sign peace deal Ukraine will face worse in future

Shaun Walker

US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a peace deal in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future.

The US army secretary Dan Driscoll briefed ambassadors from Nato nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelenskyy and taking a phone call from the White House. “No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present.

The mood in the room was sombre, with several European ambassadors questioning the content of the deal and the way in which the US had conducted the negotiations with Russia without keeping allies informed.

“It was a nightmare meeting. It was the ‘you have no cards’ argument again,” said the source, referring to Trump’s claim that Zelenskyy had no cards to play, during a contentious White House meeting back in February.

The deal now on offer contains a number of provisions that are likely to be unacceptable to Kyiv, including the need to give up territory Russia has occupied, as well as surrendering further territory Kyiv still controls. It also suggests there would be an amnesty for all war crimes committed during the conflict.

On Friday, Zelenskyy gave a video address to the country saying it was “one of the most difficult moments of our history”. Ukraine faced a choice, he said: “losing our dignity or losing a key ally.”

Driscoll, a close friend of the US vice-president, JD Vance, who has only recently been put on the Ukraine portfolio, declined to go into detail about whether the deal on the table matched a 28-point plan that had been published in the press. “Some things matter, some are window dressing – and we most focused on the things that matter,” he said, according to the source.