US, Nov 24 : The United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday declined to disclose any details of the day long negotiations in Geneva involving the US, Ukraine, and European partners on a 28-point peace plan aimed at resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
At a press briefing held around 6 p.m. local time, both the US and Ukrainian delegations had confirmed “progress” in earlier discussions on the US-proposed framework, urging reporters to await further updates later in the evening. However, only Rubio returned for the second briefing more than two hours later.
Rubio said he was “not prepared” to reveal specifics of the issues under negotiation, according to Xinhua news agency. He reiterated that the day’s discussions were “productive” and expressed optimism about reaching an agreement “within a very reasonable period of time very soon.”
Despite this, he cautioned that several matters still required “higher level decisions and consultation.” Some outstanding issues, he noted, involved language and semantics, while others needed “more time to work through.”
“The items that remain open are not insurmountable,” Rubio stressed. He added that certain components related to the roles of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would require further engagement with European partners.
The Ukrainian delegation did not return for a second media briefing.
Following the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remarked on social media that it was crucial to ensure that “the steps to end the war are effective, and that everything is doable.”