Ukrainian and US officials will soon meet in Switzerland to discuss Washington’s plan for ending the war with Russia, Kyiv said Saturday, as it seeks to fix the draft that heeds to some of Moscow’s hardline demands.US President Donald Trump gave Ukraine less than a week to approve the 28-point plan to end the nearly four-year conflict, which would see the invaded country cede territory, cut its army, and pledge to never join NATO. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s European allies, who were not included in drafting the agreement, said the plan requires “additional work” as they scrambled at the G20 summit in South Africa to come up with a counter-offer to beef up Kyiv’s positions. “In the coming days, consultations will take place with partners regarding the steps needed to end the war,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, after he issued a decree stating Ukraine’s team for the talks, which will be led by his top aide, Andriy Yermak.”Our representatives know how to defend Ukraine’s national interests and what is necessary to prevent Russia from launching a third invasion,” Zelensky added. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also join the talks on Sunday morning in Geneva, sources at the G20 summit said. Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s security council secretary who’s also on board for the talks, earlier also indicated Switzerland as a location for the deliberations. “This is another stage of the dialogue that has been ongoing in recent days and is primarily aimed at aligning our vision for the next steps,” added Umerov, formerly a defence minister. He previously led a few rounds of negotiations with Russia in Turkey, which only yielded prisoner exchanges and bodies repatriations. Zelensky’s decree also said the negotiations will include “representatives of the Russian Federation.” There was no immediate confirmation from Russia whether it would join the talks. – More work needed -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 Saturday.”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,” the leaders of key European countries as well as Canada and Japan said in a joint statement.France’s Emmanuel Macron earlier sent a sombre message to the gathering, saying “the G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle,” adding that the grouping was struggling to resolve major crises around the world, referring to the unilateral US plan for resolving the Ukraine war. Britain, Germany and France emerged as key Ukraine backers, providing it with crucial military and financial support, especially after the US sponsorship waned after Trump’s return to office.- Difficult choice -Zelensky said Friday in an address to the nation that Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, adding that he would propose alternatives to Trump’s proposal.”The pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” Zelensky said in his address, referring to a possible break with Washington.Russian President Vladimir Putin said the blueprint could “lay the foundation” for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.Better equipped and larger in numbers, the Russian army is slowly but steadily gaining ground across the lengthy front line.Ukrainians are meanwhile facing one of the toughest winters since the war began, after Moscow carried out a brutal bombing campaign against energy infrastructure. This comes as a sweeping corruption probe that unveiled graft in the energy sector was unravelling in Kyiv, sparking public outcry.    

The G20’s role in fixing economic crises is threatened by geopolitical fractures, leaders warned Saturday at a summit in South Africa boycotted by the United States.European leaders attending the G20 summit — the first held in Africa — huddled on its sidelines to push back at a unilateral plan by US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war in Ukraine on terms favouring Russia.In a joint statement issued with Canada and Japan, they said Trump’s plan needs “additional work” and some of its points required “the consent of EU and NATO members”.Speaking at the opening of the summit, one of the statement’s signatories, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “We are struggling to resolve major crises together around this table.”He warned that, given fissures in international cooperation, “the G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle”.”There’s no doubt, the road ahead is tough,” agreed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who also signed the statement — adding: “We need to find ways to play a constructive role again today in the face of the world challenges.”Chinese Premier Li Qiang said “unilateralism and protectionism are rampant” and “many people are pondering what exactly is happening to global solidarity”.But the summit’s host, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, downplayed Trump’s absence and argued the G20 remained key for international cooperation.”The G20 underscores the value of the relevance of multilateralism. It recognises that the challenges that we face can only be resolved through cooperation, collaboration and partnership,” Ramaphosa said.The G20 comprises 19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union, and accounts for 85 percent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population.- ‘Just’ peace in Ukraine -The Johannesburg summit was undermined by the American boycott, and China’s Li stood in for an absent President Xi Jinping, while Russia sent a Kremlin official, Maxim Oreshkin, instead of President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted under an International Criminal Court warrant. The leaders present adopted a G20 summit declaration early in their meeting that covered climate, energy, debt sustainability and a critical-minerals pact — along with a joint call for a “just” peace in Ukraine,  the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and the “Occupied Palestinian Territory”.Argentina’s Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno — standing in for absent President Javier Milei, a Trump ally — objected to “how certain geopolitical issues are framed in the document”, specifically the Israel-Palestinian conflict. But Ramaphosa said that did not block the declaration’s adoption by the participants, who also included Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.As soon as the opening ceremony was over, Starmer, Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rushed into a meeting to discuss Trump’s plan for Ukraine, and were soon joined by other leaders from Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan, an EU official said.After the meeting all of them, except Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, issued a statement calling the US plan a “draft” with some “important elements” but that it “will require additional work”.”Borders must not be changed by force,” they said, adding they were “also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack”.European Council President Antonio Costa said on X the leaders of all 27 EU nations would hold a follow-up meeting on Monday, on the sidelines of a European Union-African Union summit in Angola. Several sources at the G20 summit, speaking on condition of anonymity, said security officials from Britain, France and Germany would meet US counterparts on Sunday in Switzerland, where US-Ukraine talks were to be held.Trump has said he wants Kyiv to accept his 28-point proposals — which involve ceding territory to Russia and cutting the size of Ukraine’s military — by Thursday.- Next G20 summit in US -While the United States skipped the Johannesburg summit because it said it viewed its priorities — including on trade and on climate — as running counter to its policies, it still intended to take up the G20 baton for the next gathering.Trump plans to stage that summit in 2026 at a Florida golf club he owns.Washington has said it will send the US charge d’affaires from its embassy in South Africa only for the handover ceremony on Sunday.