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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the 28-point proposal to resolve Russia’s war against Ukraine, seen as favourable to Russia, was “authored by the US”.
“The peace proposal was authored by the US. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations,” Rubio posted on X. “It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine,” Rubio wrote.
Rubio’s comments came as lawmakers critical of President Donald Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war claimed that the Secretary of State had told them the peace plan Trump is pushing Kyiv to accept is a “wish list” of the Russians, rather than the actual proposal offering Washington’s positions.
It also comes as Kyiv’s allies work to put together a unified response to the 28-point plan, with top US, Ukrainian, and European officials scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday to discuss the next steps for ending the war in Ukraine.
A State Department spokesperson denied the senators’ account, calling it “blatantly false, before Rubio himself then took the extraordinary step of suggesting online that the senators were mistaken, even though they said he was their source for the information.
Rubio and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff worked on the widely leaked 28-point US-backed peace proposal for a month, with participation from both Russians and Ukrainians, according to the White House.
The plan acquiesces to many Russian demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has categorically rejected on dozens of occasions, including giving up large pieces of territory.
Trump says he wants Ukraine to accept the plan by late next week.
US senators say plan would only reward Moscow
“This administration was not responsible for this release in its current form,” said Republican Mike Rounds from South Dakota, speaking at a security conference in Canada. “They want to utilise it as a starting point.”
Rounds said, “It looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with.”
The senators said they spoke to Rubio after he reached out to some of them while on his way to Geneva for talks on the plan. Independent Maine Sen. Angus King said Rubio told them the plan “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians.”
Earlier on Saturday, the senators said the plan would only reward Moscow for its aggression and send a message to other leaders who have threatened their neighbours.
“It rewards aggression. This is pure and simple. There’s no ethical, legal, moral, or political justification for Russia claiming eastern Ukraine,” King said during a panel discussion at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.
Putin welcomed the proposal late Friday, saying it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement” if the US can get Ukraine and its European allies to agree.
Zelenskyy, in an address, did not reject the plan outright, but insisted on fair treatment while pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners in what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history.”
