Extract from ABC News
The original US deal requires Ukraine to cap the size of its post-war military. (AP: Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade)
In short:
European allies are pushing the US to modify the terms of a peace plan it is pressuring Ukraine to accept.
The plan has widely been seen as favouring Russia's demands for an end to the war.
What's next?
Both the US and Ukraine are negotiating the terms of the agreement.
The United States and Ukraine are negotiating on changes to a peace plan to end the war with Russia after agreeing to modify an American proposal that Kyiv and its European allies have described as a Kremlin wish list.
In a joint statement, representatives from Washington and Kyiv said they had drafted a "refined peace framework" after talks in Geneva on Sunday.
Though there were no specifics, the dialogue received a cautious welcome from some of Ukraine's allies.
The US blindsided Kyiv and European countries with a 28-point peace plan last week, giving Ukraine until Thursday to agree to a framework to end Europe's deadliest war since World War Two.
It led European allies to put forward a counter-proposal that included NATO-style security guarantees for a post-war Ukraine, in a bid to apply pressure on the US to come to the table.
On Sunday, Donald Trump accused Ukraine's leaders of having "zero gratitude" for American support. (Reuters: Al Drago)
The sudden push raises the pressure on Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is now at his most vulnerable since the start of the war after a corruption scandal saw two of his ministers dismissed and as Russia makes battlefield gains.
He could struggle to get Ukrainians to swallow a deal viewed as selling out their interests.
Russia calls Europe counter-proposal 'unconstructive'
After Sunday's talks, no public statement was released on how the revised plan would handle contentious issues such as how to guarantee Ukraine's security against future Russian threats and how to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskyy said negotiations were ongoing, while the Kremlin said nothing had officially been conveyed to Russia.
Leaders of the Coalition of the Willing, a group of 33 countries which vowed to help defend Ukraine post-war, were set to meet later this week to discuss the plan.
Following the release of the European counter-proposal, the Kremlin on Monday appeared to dismiss it.
"The European plan, at first glance … is completely unconstructive and does not work for us," Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.
He said that "not all, but many provisions of [the US] plan seem quite acceptable to us," adding that some points would require more detailed discussion.
Kyiv still looking for compromises, Zelenskyy says
"We all continue working with partners, especially the United States, to look for compromises that will strengthen but not weaken us," Mr Zelenskyy said via video link from a separate summit of Ukraine's allies in Sweden.
Mr Zelenskyy said Russia must pay for the war in Ukraine and that a decision on using frozen Russian assets was crucial.
US President Donald Trump has kept up the pressure on Ukraine to reach a deal.
"Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine??? Don't believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening," Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mr Zelenskyy could travel to the United States as soon as this week to discuss the most sensitive aspects of the plan with Trump, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The initial 28-point proposal put forth by the US last week called on Ukraine to cede more territory, accept limits on its military and abandon its ambitions to join NATO, Russian demands that Ukrainians have long rejected.
Russian forces are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east. (Reuters: Anatolii Stepanov)
"Trump's special plan is, in general, a capitulation for Ukraine," said Anzhelika Yurkevych, a 62-year-old civil servant in Kyiv.
"I think the Ukrainian people will not agree. Even if they sign, it needs to be implemented, the Ukrainian people will be the ones to do it. And they do not agree with this."
'Peace in Ukraine won't happen overnight'
Underscoring the war's toll, Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv was hit by what officials said was a massive drone attack that killed four people on Sunday.
Across the border, Russian air defences downed Ukrainian drones en route to Moscow, forcing three airports that serve the capital to temporarily restrict flights.
European allies said they were not involved in crafting the original plan. They released a counter-proposal that would ease some of the proposed territorial concessions and include a NATO-style security guarantee from the United States for Ukraine if it is attacked.
The west Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has again been hit by long-range Russian strikes. (Reuters: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy)
"We are, of course, closely monitoring the media reports that have been pouring in from Geneva over the past few days, but we have not yet received anything official," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Some EU leaders met to discuss Ukraine on the sidelines of an EU-African Union summit in Luanda on Monday, with others dialling in via video conference.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump had expressed an openness to a jointly developed peace plan for Ukraine.
"And that is precisely what the representatives of Ukraine, the United States of America and the European member states achieved yesterday in Geneva," Mr Merz said in Luanda.
"We welcome the fact that these talks took place in Geneva. We also welcome the interim result. Some issues were clarified, but we also know: Peace in Ukraine won't happen overnight."
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said any agreement must not weaken Ukraine or Europe.
"This is a delicate matter because no one wants to discourage Americans and President Trump from having the United States on our side in this process," he said.
"There is no agreement that a military weakening, or so-called limits on the number of troops in Ukraine, is a condition for peace," he added.
Reuters
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