STORY: The United States said it had made significant progress on crafting a plan to end the war in Ukraine during talks on Sunday (November 23) but no agreement was reached on how to guarantee Kyiv's security amid concerns about the threat posed by Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led the talks in Geneva with a high-level Ukrainian delegation after Kyiv and its allies voiced alarm about a U.S.-backed plan because of what they saw as major concessions to Russia, and pressed for changes.

Rubio said work remained to be done on questions including the role of NATO and security guarantees for Ukraine, but that his team had narrowed down unresolved issues in a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine championed by President Donald Trump.

"And we have achieved that today in a very substantial way," Rubio told reporters at the U.S. mission in Geneva.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SPEAKING TO REPORTERS ABOUT TALKS WITH UKRAINE ON A PLAN TO END ITS WAR WITH RUSSIA

SHOWS: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (NOVEMBER 23, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, ENTERING ROOM AND WALKING TO MICROPHONES TO BRIEF THE PRESS / SHOT 2 CONTINUOUS OVER SHOT 1

2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“Alright, we had a very good day today. I think we made a tremendous amount of progress, even from the last time I spoke to you. And I apologize for keeping you waiting, but there was more work to be done. You know, we began almost three weeks ago with a foundational document that we socialized and ran by both sides, and with input from both sides. And one of the things that happens when you've been involved in this now for ten months is you get a pretty good sense of what the priorities and the red lines and the important issues are for both sides. And so that allowed us to create a foundational document.”

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“We arrived here today with one goal, and the goal was to take, you know, what, you know, it’s 28 points or 26 points, depending on which version as they continued to evolve and try to narrow the ones that were open items, and we have achieved that today in a very substantial way. Now, obviously, like any final agreement, they'll have to be agreed upon by the presidents. And there are a couple issues that we need to continue to work on. But I think the report today is that I think today was worthwhile. It was very, very… it is probably the most productive day we have had on this issue, maybe in the entirety of our engagement, but certainly in a very long time. But work remains. And because this continues to be a working process, you know, I don't want to declare victory or finality here. There's still some work to be done. But we are much further ahead today at this time than we were when we began this morning and where we were a week ago for certain.”

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“It evolved. This is a living, breathing document. Every day with input, it changes. There were some that involved equities, or the role of the EU, or NATO, or so forth. And those we kind of segregated out, because we just met with the National Security Advisors for various European countries. And those are things we'll have to discuss with them, because it involves them. So we sort of really focused on the ones that were bilateral in nature for the most part. So there were a couple of, none of it insurmountable. I can tell you that the items that remain open or not insurmountable. We just need more time than what we have today. I honestly believe we'll get there.”

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“So I'm not going to speculate or go into the details of any of the specific items in the latest version of the proposal, because frankly, by tomorrow or the next day, that may have evolved and changed further. But I can tell you, I guess, that I feel very optimistic that we can get something done here, because we made a tremendous amount of progress today.”

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“Well, today, and we've talked to him since, I think he's quite pleased at the reports we've given him about the amount of process that's been made.”

11. WHITE FLASH

12. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“Well, obviously, the Russians get a vote here, right? So, I mean, look, we began from the early stage of this process with our understanding of the Russian position as it had been communicated to us in numerous ways. At the State Department, we received numerous written non-papers and things of this nature, also verbally things they discussed over time and so forth. So, no matter what we came up with today, obviously, we now have to take what we come up with if we can reach that agreement with the Ukrainian side to the Russian side. That's another part of this equation. They have to agree to this in order for this to work.”

13. WHITE FLASH

14. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“The deadline is we want to get this done as soon as possible. Obviously, you know, we'd love it to be Thursday. We'd love to be… ultimately, the important point today is that we have made substantial progress. We've really moved forward. So I feel very optimistic that we're going to get there in a very reasonable period of time, very soon. You know, whether it's Thursday, whether its Friday, whether is Wednesday, whether it's Monday of the following week, we want it to soon because people are going to, between today and the time we deal with this, more people are going to die. More destruction is going to happen. Our goal is to end this war as soon possible, but we need a little more time.”

15. WHITE FLASH

16. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

“I mean, clearly, I think we all recognize that part of getting a final end to this war will require for Ukraine to feel as if it is safe and it is never going to be invaded or attacked again. So that's clearly something that has to be discussed. I think that we've made substantial progress on that and other points, but I'm not going to get into the details today about all of this.”

17. WHITE FLASH

18. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, ANSWERING QUESTION FROM JOURNALIST, SAYING:

JOURNALIST: “Would there be a call between President Trump and Zelenskiy?

RUBIO: “I don’t know. It’s possible. I’m not sure.”

19. WHITE FLASH

20. RUBIO THANKING PRESS AND EXITING