US President Donald Trump has said his humiliating Ukraine peace plan is not a ‘final offer’ but has maintained the war must end now.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Saturday, the US leader said he would like to see peace between Ukraine and Russia, while asserting his controversial 28-point plan was ‘not at all’ the final offer.
‘I would like to get to peace. It should have happened a long time ago. The Ukraine war with Russia should have never happened,’ he added. ‘If I were President, it never would have happened. One way or the other, we have to get it ended.’
Sir Keir Starmer agreed his and Trump’s teams will work together on the Ukraine peace proposal during talks in Geneva tomorrow, Downing Street said
The PM relayed to Trump what he had discussed with members of the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine at the G20 summit, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
He also agreed to speak with the US leader again on Sunday, with today’s phone call understood to be a ‘good and constructive’ discussion.
It comes as the British Prime Minister and other European leaders raised ‘concerns’ over the Ukraine peace plan, brokered between Russia and the US, as the eastern European country faced growing pressure to accept its terms by Thursday.
The 28-point plan would force Kyiv to limit its armed forces, give up territory as well as its path to Nato membership. It would also mean the country would have to hold elections within 100 days.
US President Donald Trump has said his humiliating Ukraine peace plan is not a ‘final offer’ but has maintained the war must end now
Pictured left to right: European Council President Antonio Costa, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb
Sir Keir Starmer has backed both Ukraine and Donald Trump after a call with Volodymyr Zelensky about a US-backed peace plan
In return, sanctions against Russia would be lifted and, crucially for Vladimir Putin, the country would be ‘reintegrated into the global economy’.
The deal is said to have been negotiated by the US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin representative Kirill Dmitriev, with Kyiv and European allies left out of the process.
It comes after Sir Keir and other European leaders had been blindsided by the peace proposals and had begun discussing alternatives on the sidelines at the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, following their meeting at the Johannesburg G20 summit, the international leaders said Washington’s plan was ‘a basis which will require additional work’.
Sir Keir told reporters in South Africa: ‘We are concerned about (caps on military) because it’s fundamental that Ukraine has to be able to defend itself if there’s a ceasefire.’
He said the allies of Ukraine agreed that ‘there are elements in the 28-point plan which are essential to lasting peace, but it requires additional work, and that we are going to engage on that’.
Meanwhile, Kremlin leader, Vladimir Putin, appeared to have embraced the deal after saying he believes ‘it can be used as the basis for a final peaceful settlement’. Meanwhile President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking to propose alternatives.
The US President, who shunned the South Africa G20 summit, initially suggested he wanted a Ukrainian response by Thursday. But, he has since said there is some room for negotiations in Geneva.
Tomorrow, US, Ukrainian and European national security advisers are expected to gather in Switzerland to ‘go through quite a bit of detail’ of the framework, according to Sir Keir Starmer.
Donald Trump, who ‘supports’ the plan, is expected to meet with the Ukrainian President in the coming days
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with Turkey’s President following their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on November 19, 2025
Read More
BREAKING NEWS Starmer and European leaders ‘concerned’ over Trump’s peace plan: Ukraine and US to meet
UK NSA Jonathan Powell is understood to have left the G20 summit in South Africa early to head to Switzerland, while Mr Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll are also expected to attend the talks.
Sir Keir said the inclusion of an ‘article five’ security guarantee ‘fortifies’ his belief that the US leader wants a ‘just and lasting peace’, adding that Trump’s actions and their ‘one-on-one’ discussions on Ukraine had also made this ‘clear’.
The inclusion of an article five security guarantee – Nato’s mutual defence provision under which an attack on one member is an attack on the entire bloc – is seen as ‘integral and significant’ to Washington’s plan, it is understood.
Sir Keir said: ‘That’s about the strongest guarantee that can be put forward. And so that fortifies in me the belief that what we’re all trying to achieve here is a just and lasting peace.’
National security advisors from the UK, France and Germany will also meet US and Ukrainian officials taking part in the talks in Geneva on Sunday.
It comes after Zelensky said he and Sir Keir had ‘covered many nuances of diplomatic work’ in a bid to end the war with Russia.
Of their phone call, he said: ‘Coordination will continue, and I am grateful to the British society for their support.
‘Tomorrow, our advisers will work in Switzerland – representatives from Ukraine, the United States, and the E3 format, namely the UK, France, and Germany.
Keir Starmer, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska (centre left) visit the Holodomor Genocide complex of the National Museum in Kyiv to commemorate the victims of the Holodomor on Saturday
‘The vast majority of European leaders are ready to assist and get involved.
‘Consultations are ongoing at various levels, and the efforts of everyone who seeks a genuine and lasting peace matter. Thank you!’
In a previous video address to his nation, Zelensky said Ukrainian representatives at talks in Geneva ‘know how to protect Ukrainian national interests and exactly what is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out’ another invasion.
‘Real peace is always based on security and justice,’ the Ukrainian leader added.
Zelensky has appointed his top aide, Andriy Yermak, to lead the talks, according to a presidential decree.
The decree said the talks will also include ‘representatives of the Russian Federation.’ There was no immediate confirmation from Russia whether it would join the talks.
US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push President Zelensky into agreeing to the deal under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future.
Briefing ambassadors from Nato nations, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said: ‘No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later.’
Vice President JD Vance has insisted the US administration’s approach is rooted in pragmatic diplomacy rather than unrealistic expectations.
He said: ‘Every criticism of the peace framework the administration is working on either misunderstands the framework or misstates some critical reality on the ground.
Trump met with Zelensky in the White House Oval office in February, which turned into a tense dust-up between the two
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin (not pictured) at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, November 20, 2025
Read More
Sir Keir Starmer backs both Ukraine and Donald Trump after Zelensky call over 28-point ‘peace plan’
‘There is a fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand.’
Mr Zelensky said he would work around the clock to find a path but insisted he would not betray his country.
If he accepts the deal, Ukraine would have to cede to Russia all the lands that Moscow has declared for itself in Donetsk and Luhansk. These would then be recognised by the US as Russian territory.
No Nato forces could be based inside Ukraine. And the Ukrainian military would be cut by a quarter to 600,000 troops and barred from possessing long-range weapons that could reach Russia.
Sir Keir is understood to have ruled out flying to Washington next week, though European leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, are considering visiting Mr Trump.
Mr Putin, who like Trump is not attending the gathering of the world’s leading economies, has cautiously welcomed the US proposal, saying it ‘could form the basis of a final peace settlement’.
With Ukraine facing one of the most ‘difficult moments’ in its history, Mr Zelensky said it faced a choice between ‘losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner’.
It came after, a 40-minute call with Sir Keir, Mr Macron and German leader Friedrich Merz, where they stressed Ukraine ‘must determine its future under its sovereignty’.
The Prime Minister said he and the fellow leaders had emphasised to Mr Zelensky the ‘fundamental principle’ that Kyiv should be in charge of its own destiny.
Asked what it meant to ‘strengthen’ Washington’s plans, Downing Street declined to ‘get ahead of those discussions’ but denied they were viewed as weak by friends of Kyiv.
JD Vance (pictured) hit back at criticism of the latest Ukraine peace plan by arguing that it is a ‘fantasy’ to believe more weapons and sanctions would defeat Russia
Pressed on whether Britain had been cut out of Mr Trump’s peace negotiations, Sir Keir’s spokesman said he did not ‘accept that at all’ as he stressed the ‘excellent relationship’ between the US and UK leaders.
Russia’s war against Ukraine is an existential threat to Europe. We all want this war to end. But how it ends matters,’ EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in Brussels.
‘Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded. Ultimately, the terms of any agreement are for Ukraine to decide.’
Meanwhile, Poland’s President, Karol Nawrocki, insisted that a peace settlement cannot be imposed on Ukraine.
‘It was Ukraine that fell victim to Putin’s criminal aggression, and it is Ukrainians, with the support of the United States and EU countries, who must have the decisive voice in peace talks,’ he said.
‘The price of peace cannot in any way be the achievement of strategic goals by the aggressor, and the aggressor was and remains the Russian Federation.’
Significantly, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was among those publicly criticising the deal. He warned Trump, a friend and ally, that asking Ukraine to slash its military was ‘not acceptable’.
It emerged this week that the White House had been secretly forging a plan to end the conflict, with the issue dominating the G20 meeting designed to bring together the world’s leading economies.
The UK will host the global gathering in 2027, Sir Keir confirmed, saying it would allow Britain ‘to shape the global agenda once again’ and drive economic growth.
