US And Ukraine Rework 28-Point Peace Deal, Key Terms Explained

Senior U.S. and Ukrainian delegations concluded a day-long meeting in Geneva on November 23, 2025, announcing a significantly refined version of President Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Described in a joint statement as “highly productive” and “constructive,” the talks produced an updated framework that incorporates several Ukrainian demands, moving away from the original draft’s heavy concessions to Moscow. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the progress “tremendous,” while Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak, said both sides had made “very good progress” toward a just and lasting peace.

The original plan, drafted last month in Miami with input from Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, had stunned Kyiv and European allies by demanding Ukraine formally cede Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk, withdraw troops from unoccupied parts of Donbas to create a Russian-controlled buffer zone, cap its military size, and permanently forgo NATO membership. Many Ukrainians viewed it as capitulation after nearly four years of fierce resistance. The revised document softens these terms, reportedly keeping the current frontline intact as the starting point for any future territorial talks and rejecting forced cessions of land Russia has not yet seized.

Ukraine’s counter-proposal, developed with European partners, forms the backbone of the new refinements. It insists on an immediate ceasefire along existing lines before any discussion of territory, demands security guarantees equivalent to NATO’s Article 5 from the U.S. and allies, and calls for frozen Russian assets—estimated at over $300 billion—to fund reconstruction and war reparations. Sanctions on Moscow would lift only in stages, tied to full compliance, allowing gradual Russian reintegration into the global economy if peace holds.

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The updated framework also addresses compensation for American support: the U.S. would receive payment for its strong security guarantees, potentially through a share of seized Russian funds or future resource agreements. Russian assets would remain frozen unless Moscow agrees to cover the massive damage inflicted on Ukraine. War-crimes accountability, initially sidelined in the original draft, is now reportedly back on the table in a limited form acceptable to Kyiv.

President Trump had publicly pressured Ukraine to accept the plan by Thanksgiving (November 27), warning of reduced aid and complaining on Truth Social about Kyiv’s “zero gratitude.” Following the Geneva talks, however, both sides struck a more conciliatory tone. Rubio clarified that the U.S. authored the plan alone, incorporating earlier Ukrainian points, while Yermak thanked Washington for its “respectful” approach and reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to partnership.

With the refined framework now in hand, attention turns to whether Kyiv will formally endorse it by the Thanksgiving deadline and whether Russia—absent from Geneva but consulted earlier—will accept the changes. European leaders remain cautious: Poland’s Donald Tusk questioned the plan’s origins, and France’s Emmanuel Macron warned against any deal that fails to deter future aggression. For millions of Ukrainians, the revised proposal offers hope of peace without total surrender, marking the closest the conflict has come to a negotiated end since 2022.

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