European leaders were surprised when the US peace plan had many points that favored Russia, forcing them to urgently contact Washington to save the situation.
On November 20, the White House announced that US officials had consulted with Russia and Ukraine and drafted a peace plan to end hostilities between the two countries. US Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll presented the plan to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting the day before in Kiev.
Media reported that this plan includes 28 points, including many demands that Russia once made to accept the end of the conflict, such as Ukraine giving up part of its territory, accepting a limit on the size of its army and stopping pursuing the goal of joining NATO.
The published information stunned European leaders, as they were completely sidelined and faced with an agreement completely unfavorable to Ukraine. A few weeks ago, they knew the US was preparing some plan, but did not think it would be so inclined towards Russia, and realized that they had been overtaken by their ally Washington.
In the days that followed, European leaders embarked on a diplomatic race to turn the situation around. Work schedules were disrupted, urgent meetings were called. They negotiated behind the scenes, trying to pull US President Donald Trump’s administration back to a more acceptable stance.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (left), French President Emmanuel Macron (center) and German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz at the meeting at the G20 summit, Johannesburg, South Africa on November 22. Image: AFP
Many European foreign ministers first learned about the US peace plan when they gathered in Brussels, Belgium, on November 20 for a meeting on the situation of Sudan and Ukraine as previously planned. They were stunned when reading information on sites like Axios and Financial Times.
In the draft agreement, NATO will not be allowed to deploy soldiers to post-war Ukraine, meaning proposals from Britain and France for peacekeeping forces in Ukraine have been rejected. The draft also mentions the use of hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian assets frozen in Europe.
“Questions began to arise when European officials met in Brussels,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen described.
European foreign ministers turned to their Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, participating in the meeting online, to seek information. “Do you know anything about the plan? Is it real?”. However, Mr. Sybiha does not have more information than them.
The situation at the leadership level is no different. German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz also learned about the 28-point plan when he read the newspaper, not because the US announced it. He canceled his participation in a reading event at an elementary school in response.
Sources familiar with the matter said German officials wondered whether President Trump knew about the plan and should take the document seriously. They sought to contact the US side to arrange a call between Mr. Merz and Mr. Trump on the evening of November 21 to seek an explanation.
On November 21, Mr. Trump and US officials began discussions with European counterparts. Brussels is increasingly certain that Washington’s plan is real. Minister Driscoll said during a meeting in Ukraine that Europe could not participate in developing the draft “to avoid five people having ten opinions”. He believes that Europe is too close to Ukraine, so it is difficult to make an objective assessment.
Europe and Ukraine are now in a dilemma. They must choose between rejecting the proposal from the US, making Mr. Trump angry and losing control of the situation, or risk pushing forward and trying to slowly adjust the direction.
“Ukraine may soon face an extremely difficult choice. Either lose dignity, or lose a key partner,” President Zelensky said, reflecting the general mood of the region.
During the next 24 hours, European diplomatic officials continuously called and texted each other to work out strategies.
European leaders arriving in South Africa on November 22 to attend the G20 summit attended a meeting organized by European Council President Antonio Costa. They agreed that Europe needed to participate in America’s plan and unite their voices.
European leaders agreed on a number of principles such as not being able to change borders by force, not imposing major military restrictions on Ukraine, and they must be able to participate in all decisions affecting Europe and NATO. All of these points are contrary to Mr. Trump’s plan.
However, instead of a direct confrontation, European leaders chose to follow Mr. Trump and issued a joint statement saying that the draft plan could be a starting point.
“We welcome America’s efforts to bring peace to Ukraine,” the statement read, emphasizing that “the draft is the foundation and needs to continue to be improved.”
Two European representatives, chief of staff of European Commission President Bjoern Seibert and chief of staff of European Council President Pedro Lourtie, urgently sought to go to Switzerland, where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Ukraine on November 23. They went to Johannesburg airport, caught the earliest flight to Geneva and joined the British, French, German and Italian delegations.
On November 23, European officials were still nervous and passive while waiting for Secretary of State Rubio’s delegation. They confer with their Ukrainian counterparts and strategize.
This effort bore fruit, when US officials agreed to meet with European representatives. This contact and pressure from Ukrainian officials brought a small step forward. Mr. Rubio told European officials that issues that directly impact the region will not be included in the current round of negotiations.
At the press conference on the evening of November 23, Secretary of State Rubio showed that he kept his word. US officials described the negotiations as constructive and that the draft plan could be adjusted.
“This is a flexible document, subject to change,” Mr. Rubio said, implying that Europe will have a say in parts related to the region and that discussions will take place according to “its own roadmap.”
Relief spread across Brussels. Mr. Seibert and Mr. Lourtie quickly left the meeting to inform the 27 European Union member states of the situation late on November 23.
US and Ukrainian officials at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on November 23. Image: AFP
The hasty diplomatic effort helped Europe block what they considered the worst of the US administration’s peace plan. However, the region later revealed disagreements about aid plans for Ukraine in 2026 and how to respond to the increasingly tense confrontation with Russia.
Many big questions remain unanswered, such as whether the US will continue to let Europe fully participate in the peace negotiation process and how great is the prospect of the parties reaching a ceasefire agreement.
“The ‘Alliance of Goodwill’ has now become the ‘Alliance of Waiting’,” former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, referring to the group of countries that share the same goal of ensuring security for Ukraine, whose members are mainly European countries. “Europe now understands that it will have to do more.”