The U.S. administration’s framework — which came with an aggressive Thanksgiving deadline and threats to cut off aid and intelligence to Ukraine unless it accepted — caught Ukraine and its European allies off guard, setting off a weekend of urgent negotiations in Geneva among Washington, Kyiv and European partners.
Putin spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the plan on Monday, and, according to the Kremlin, said that Trump’s first proposal was a “good base for the future deal.”
“Vladimir Putin noted that these proposals, in the version we have seen, are in line with the discussions at the Russian-American summit in Alaska and, in principle, can be the basis of a final peaceful settlement,” the Kremlin said in its readout of the call.
The gap between the two sides’ preferred endgames remains vast, and largely incompatible. Moscow is pushing for a settlement that locks in and expands its territorial gains, while Kyiv and European capitals insist on securing Ukraine’s sovereignty.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the discussions in Switzerland as major progress, while noting there was “still some work to be done” before finalizing a proposal.
Trump, who criticized Kyiv on Sunday for showing “zero gratitude,” nevertheless struck an optimistic tone about the Swiss talks. “Something good just may be happening,” he wrote in a social media post Monday.