Closing summary
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 on Saturday. The leaders of key European countries as well as Canada and Japan said in a joint statement: “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.”
Ukraine and the US are launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end the war, a Ukrainian negotiator said on Saturday, after Washington sent Kyiv a plan which accepts some of Moscow’s demands. “In the coming days in Switzerland we are launching consultations between senior officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement,” the secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, Rustem Umerov, who is on Ukraine’s negotiating team, wrote on social media.
US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a peace deal in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future. The US army secretary Dan Driscoll briefed ambassadors from Nato nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelenskyy and taking a phone call from the White House. “No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that real peace is always based on guaranteed security and justice. “Our representatives know how to protect Ukraine’s national interests and what exactly is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out a third invasion, another blow to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address where he announced talks with Ukraine’s partners on steps to end the war, reports Reuters.
Zelenskyy has said it is “important” that “all partners … are fully informed about the situation” following a phone call with Poland’s Donald Tusk. The call took place earlier today and the pair discussed the US-Russia ‘peace deal’.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had made clear to US president Donald Trump that Europe needs to be a part of any process to end the war in Ukraine in a long phone call on Friday evening. “If Ukraine loses this war and possibly collapses, it will have an impact on European politics as a whole, on the entire European continent. And that is why we are so committed to this issue,” Merz said after the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
Italy will send an official to join Ukraine talks in Geneva on Sunday with national security advisors from the E3 countries and the European Union, as well as US and Ukrainian officials, diplomatic sources said. The sources said Fabrizio Saggio would represent Italy.
Ukraine said it had received 31 civilians on Saturday who had been freed from jail in Belarus. “Women and men detained in Belarus and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s prisoner exchange coordination committee said on the Telegram messaging app.
The G20 group of major world economies is “at risk” as it struggles to tackle international crises, French president Emmanuel Macron told a summit boycotted by the United States on Saturday. Macron was among two dozen world leaders at South Africa’s G20 summit marked by the absence of President Donald Trump, who is at loggerheads with South Africa on a range of issues.
EU leaders will meet on Monday during an EU-Africa summit in Luanda to discuss a US-drafted peace proposal for Ukraine, European Council president Antonio Costa said on Saturday. “The US draft of the 28-point plan includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace,” Costa said in a post on X.
Any peace plan for Ukraine must be accepted in Kyiv, Polish president Karol Nawrocki said, after the US signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end its conflict with Russia. Washington’s 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join Nato. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer will not visit Washington next week, it is understood, amid reports that European leaders are considering visiting Donald Trump to discuss his Ukraine peace plan, reports the PA news agency. France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni are among the leaders who are considering a trip, Sky News reported citing European diplomatic sources. But it is understood the UK was not involved in such discussions.
The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had captured two villages in eastern Ukraine. It said Russian forces had taken control of the village of Zvanivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region as well as the settlement of Nove Zaporizhzhia in the Zaporizhizhia region.
A Ukrainian drone attack targeted energy facilities in Russia’s Samara region, killing two people in the southern city of Syzran, the region’s governor said on Saturday. The attack was repelled by air defence forces, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev wrote on Russia’s state-backed Max messenger app, reports Reuters.
Italy will send an official to join Ukraine talks in Geneva on Sunday with national security advisors from the E3 countries and the European Union, as well as US and Ukrainian officials, diplomatic sources said.
The sources said Fabrizio Saggio would represent Italy.
The E3 is an informal security alliance between France, Britain and Germany.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said it is “important” that “all partners … are fully informed about the situation” following a phone call with Poland’s Donald Tusk.
The call took place earlier today and the pair discussed the US-Russia ‘peace deal’.
Zelenskyy wrote on X:
I spoke with Prime Minister of Poland @donaldtusk.
I shared details of our diplomatic efforts with the U.S. and Europe. It is important for us that all partners who have stood with us since the very start of this war are fully informed about the situation. We are coordinating to ensure Europe is involved in the process.
I thank the Prime Minister and all the people of Poland for their support. We know we can always count on Poland, and we greatly appreciate it.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had made clear to US president Donald Trump that Europe needs to be a part of any process to end the war in Ukraine in a long phone call on Friday evening.
“If Ukraine loses this war and possibly collapses, it will have an impact on European politics as a whole, on the entire European continent. And that is why we are so committed to this issue,” Merz said after the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
“I made this position clear to him [Trump].”
National security advisors from the E3 countries will meet European Union, US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva on Sunday to discuss Washington’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine, officials said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
The E3 is an informal security alliance of France, Britain and Germany.
EU leaders will meet on Monday during an EU-Africa summit in Luanda to discuss a US-drafted peace proposal for Ukraine, European Council president Antonio Costa said on Saturday.
“The US draft of the 28-point plan includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace,” Costa said in a post on X.
“We are ready to engage in order to ensure that a future peace is sustainable. I have invited all 27 EU leaders for a special meeting on Ukraine on the margins of the EU-AU Summit in Luanda on Monday.”
The joint statement, mentioned in the previous post (see 1.55pm GMT) and issued by the European Council at the G20 summit, says:
We welcome the continued US efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.
The initial draft of the 28-point plan includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace. We believe therefore that the draft is a basis which will require additional work.
We are ready to engage in order to ensure that a future peace is sustainable. 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.
We reiterate that the implementation of elements relating to the European Union and relating to Nato would need the consent of EU and Nato members respectively.
We take this opportunity to underline the strength of our continued support to Ukraine. We will continue to coordinate closely with Ukraine and the US over the coming days.
US plan for Ukraine needs 'additional work’, say leaders at G20 summit
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 on Saturday.
The leaders of key European countries as well as Canada and Japan said in a joint statement:
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.
Updated
Ukraine's Zelenskyy says real peace is always based on guaranteed security and justice
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that real peace is always based on guaranteed security and justice.
“Our representatives know how to protect Ukraine’s national interests and what exactly is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out a third invasion, another blow to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address where he announced talks with Ukraine’s partners on steps to end the war, reports Reuters.
Seperately, Zelenskyy posted on X about a meeting he had held earlier in the day with the leaders of Nordic and Baltic countries. He wrote:
I briefed them on our work with American and European partners on the plan for ending the war and our next steps. From the very first days of this war, Ukraine has sought a dignified peace like no one else, and we are doing everything on our side to work as substantively as possible.
I thank each leader for their support of Ukraine and Ukrainians, our fight for freedom, our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We deeply value the solidarity and understanding of positions that are fundamental for Ukraine.
Additionally, Agence France-Presse (AFP) have reported some more comments, related to the previous post on the future of the G20 (see 1.13pm GMT), from other leaders at the summit.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer agreed with French president Emmanuel Macron that “there’s no doubt, the road ahead is tough”. He added:
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”.
The summit’s host, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, downplayed US president Donald Trump’s absence and argued the G20 remained key for international cooperation. Ramaphosa said:
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.
But the Johannesburg summit was undermined by the US 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.
AFP reports that as soon as the G20 summit opening ceremony was over on Saturday, Starmer, Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz rushed into a meeting to discuss Trump’s plan for Ukraine.
That huddle was soon expanded to include other leaders from Europe, and from Australia, Canada and Japan, an EU official said.
“We are working on making the US plan something more able to be applied, based on previous dialogue,” a European diplomatic source told AFP.
Sources told AFP there had been some communication with Washington, but there were no plans for any leaders to fly over to see Trump.
Updated
G20 'at risk' as it struggles to resolve global crises, says Macron
The G20 group of major world economies is “at risk” as it struggles to tackle international crises, French president Emmanuel Macron told a summit boycotted by the United States on Saturday.
Macron was among two dozen world leaders at South Africa’s G20 summit marked by the absence of President Donald Trump, who is at loggerheads with South Africa on a range of issues.
“The G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle,” the French leader told the gathering in Johannesburg, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Macron said:
We are living in a moment of geopolitics in which we are struggling to resolve major crises together around this table, including with members who are not present today.
He referred specifically to a new unilateral US plan to end the war in Ukraine that accepts some of Russia’s hardline demands.
European leaders in Johannesburg met on the sidelines of the G20 to discuss counter-proposals.
“There can be no peace in Ukraine without Ukrainians, without respect for their sovereignty,” Macron repeated.
The G20 is made up of 19 countries, including Russia, as well as the European Union and African Union regional groupings. It was struggling to establish common ground on issues such as humanitarian law and sovereignty, Macron said.
World leaders needed to acknowledge that “the G20 is at risk if we do not collectively re-engage around a few priorities,” Macron said, adding:
We must absolutely demonstrate that we have concrete actions to re-engage this forum and provide responses for our economies collectively around this table.
Updated
German foreign minister Johann Wadephul has warned against rushing a peace agreement.
Speaking on Friday night on German television, Wadephul said lasting peace can only be achieved if Kyiv preserves its sovereignty, and if new security guarantees are in place “for Ukraine and all of us”.
Updated
Ukraine says it has received 31 civilians who had been held in Belarus
Ukraine said it had received 31 civilians on Saturday who had been freed from jail in Belarus.
“Women and men detained in Belarus and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s prisoner exchange coordination committee said on the Telegram messaging app.
“We express our gratitude to the United States of America and president Donald Trump for their fruitful work in returning Ukrainian civilians and military personnel from Belarus and Russia,” it added.
Ukraine and US launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end war, says Ukraine negotiator
Ukraine and the US are launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end the war, a Ukrainian negotiator said on Saturday, after Washington sent Kyiv a plan which accepts some of Moscow’s demands.
“In the coming days in Switzerland we are launching consultations between senior officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement,” the secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, Rustem Umerov, who is on Ukraine’s negotiating team, wrote on social media.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had minutes earlier approved the Ukrainian delegation for the talks, which will be led by his top aide Andriy Yermak, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Starmer, Macron and Merz meet at G20 summit to discuss Trump plan to end Ukraine war
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has met France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz at the Johannesburg G20 summit to discuss the US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war.
The gathering is then expected to be expanded to include a dozen leaders including from Japan, Canada, Italy, Norway and the European Union, reports the PA news agency.
Updated
Canada's Carney and France's Macron discuss Ukraine at G20 sidelines
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and French president Emmanuel Macron discussed Ukraine on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa, the Canadian government said on Saturday.
The two leaders reaffirmed their support and stressed that any settlement to the war in Ukraine must involve Kyiv, respect Ukraine’s core interests and provide security guarantees, the Canadian government said in a statement.
Carney committed to working with allies to reach a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, it said.
US tells Nato if Zelenskyy does not sign peace deal Ukraine will face worse in future
US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a peace deal in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future.
The US army secretary Dan Driscoll briefed ambassadors from Nato nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelenskyy and taking a phone call from the White House. “No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present.
The mood in the room was sombre, with several European ambassadors questioning the content of the deal and the way in which the US had conducted the negotiations with Russia without keeping allies informed.
“It was a nightmare meeting. It was the ‘you have no cards’ argument again,” said the source, referring to Trump’s claim that Zelenskyy had no cards to play, during a contentious White House meeting back in February.
The deal now on offer contains a number of provisions that are likely to be unacceptable to Kyiv, including the need to give up territory Russia has occupied, as well as surrendering further territory Kyiv still controls. It also suggests there would be an amnesty for all war crimes committed during the conflict.
On Friday, Zelenskyy gave a video address to the country saying it was “one of the most difficult moments of our history”. Ukraine faced a choice, he said: “losing our dignity or losing a key ally.”
Driscoll, a close friend of the US vice-president, JD Vance, who has only recently been put on the Ukraine portfolio, declined to go into detail about whether the deal on the table matched a 28-point plan that had been published in the press. “Some things matter, some are window dressing – and we most focused on the things that matter,” he said, according to the source.
Leaders from Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia are expected to huddle on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Saturday to “discuss the way ahead on Ukraine”, an EU official said.
A European diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse (AFP):
We are working on making the US plan something more able to be applied, based on previous dialogue.
French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Friday, after a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressed that any such plan needed the “joint support and consensus of European partners and Nato allies”.
But Ukraine and its allies have only a few days to try to influence Washington’s 28-point proposal (see 10.45am GMT).
US president Donald Trump has warned that “Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time” for Ukraine to accept it.
What do we know about the reported US-Russian plan to end the Ukraine war? Well, full details are not yet clear but the 28-point deal is believed to include a proposal for Ukraine to hand territory to Russia, writes my colleague Jakub Krupa.
Here are some more details:
Any peace plan for Ukraine must be accepted in Kyiv, Polish president Karol Nawrocki said, after the US signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end its conflict with Russia.
Washington’s 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join Nato. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
“It was Ukraine that fell victim to Putin’s criminal aggression, and it is Ukrainians, with the support of the United States and EU countries, who must have the decisive voice in peace talks,” Nawrocki said on X late on Friday, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin. He added:
The price of peace cannot in any way be the achievement of strategic goals by the aggressor, and the aggressor was and remains the Russian Federation.
Belarus pardons 31 Ukrainians under Lukashenko-Trump pact
Belarus, a close Russian ally, pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens, state TV said on Saturday, as part of an agreement between President Alexander Lukashenko and US counterpart Donald Trump.
Trump has pushed Belarus to free political prisoners in contacts with Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994 and stamped out free media and political opposition. In exchange, Washington has partly lifted sanctions on Belarus’s state carrier Belavia, allowing it to service and buy parts for its fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft.
“The president has pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens who committed criminal offences on the territory of our country,” Lukashenko’s spokesperson Natalia Eismont told state TV, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The pardon, which was requested by Ukraine, was a result of “the agreements reached between US President Donald Trump and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko,” she said.
The move was aimed at “creating conditions for the settlement of the armed conflict in the neighbouring state,” the spokesperson added, referring to the war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainians, who were not identified, are being handed over to Kyiv “right now,” according to Eismont.
Belarus has typically charged people who oppose or criticise the government with “extremism”, meting out years-long prison sentences. It was not immediately clear what the freed Ukrainians had been charged with, reports AFP.
Earlier, Lukashenko had freed dozens of political prisoners, including prominent dissidents, journalists and clerics. There were more than 1,000 political prisoners still remaining in Belarusian prisons, according to rights groups.
The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had captured two villages in eastern Ukraine.
It said Russian forces had taken control of the village of Zvanivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region as well as the settlement of Nove Zaporizhzhia in the Zaporizhizhia region.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer will not visit Washington next week, it is understood, amid reports that European leaders are considering visiting Donald Trump to discuss his Ukraine peace plan, reports the PA news agency.
France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni are among the leaders who are considering a trip, Sky News reported citing European diplomatic sources. But it is understood the UK was not involved in such discussions.
Ukrainians are struggling against the Russian assault on its power network, reports Luke Harding in Chernihiv. Residents there have told him how they are without power for 14 hours a day as they gather in “invincibility points” to charge up and warm up.
You can read his full report here:
Two people killed in Ukraine drone attack on energy facilities in Russia's Samara region, governor says
A Ukrainian drone attack targeted energy facilities in Russia’s Samara region, killing two people in the southern city of Syzran, the region’s governor said on Saturday.
The attack was repelled by air defence forces, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev wrote on Russia’s state-backed Max messenger app, reports Reuters.
Two more people were injured and were receiving medical care, the governor said.
In case you missed Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s reaction to the call yesterday with western allies including France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the UK’s Keir Starmer, here is a post from my colleague Jakub Krupa:
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted his reaction to the call too, thanking the leaders for their “principled support for Ukraine and for all our people”.
He says the leaders “appreciate the efforts of the US, president Trump and his team aimed at ending this war,” and are working on the US document.
“This must be a plan that ensures a real and dignified peace,” he says, adding – again, pointedly – that the four leaders want to ensure that Ukraine’s “principled positions are taken into account.”
“We coordinated the next steps and agreed that our teams will work together at the corresponding levels,” he said.
Ukraine's allies to meet at G20 summit to 'strengthen' US plan as Zelenskyy says his country faces impossible choice
UK prime minister Keir Starmer is expected to meet Ukraine’s allies at the Johannesburg G20 summit on Saturday to seek to “strengthen” a US-drafted plan to end the war with Russia.
It comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv accepts within days a US-backed “peace plan” that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions.
Western allies including France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the UK’s Keir Starmer spoke to Zelenskyy on Friday in a show of solidarity. They reaffirmed their support for Kyiv and said any agreement to end the conflict had to be genuinely fair and take into account Ukraine’s own red lines.
The US president is pursuing an “aggressive timeline” to end the conflict, US officials indicated, and intends to heap unprecedented pressure on Kyiv. Trump confirmed on Friday morning that next Thursday – Thanksgiving in the US – would be an “acceptable” deadline for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”.
Trump is also threatening to cut vital intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine if it fails to agree, reports suggest.
We will bring you updates from the meeting at the G20 summit, plus other Ukraine-Russia news as it comes in.
Here are some other key developments:
Vladimir Putin says Ukraine is being unrealistic if it does not accept the US plan to end the war, declaring: “Ukraine is against it. Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still under illusions and dream of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield”. The positive response from the Russian president adds weight to the views of European and Ukrainian officials that the deal amounts to a “capitulation”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reacted to the deal by saying Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history. Agreeing to the US-Russian plan, which would force it to give up territory and make other painful concessions, could leave Ukraine “without freedom, dignity and justice”, Zelenskyy said in a sombre 10-minute speech outside the presidential palace on Friday.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned that how the Ukraine war ends matters. She said: “Russia’s war against Ukraine is an existential threat to Europe. We all want this war to end. But how it ends matters. Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded. Ultimately, the terms of any agreement are for Ukraine to decide.”
A Ukrainian drone attack targeted energy facilities in Russia’s Samara region, killing two people in the southern city of Syzran, the region’s governor said on Saturday. The attack was repelled by air defence forces, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev wrote on Russia’s state-backed Max messenger app.
US officials and lawmakers are increasingly concerned about a meeting last month in which representatives of the Trump administration met Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy who is under US. sanctions, to draft a plan to end the war in Ukraine, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The meeting took place in Miami at the end of October and included special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Dmitriev, who leads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), one of Russia’s largest sovereign wealth funds.
