Western leaders at G20 say US peace plan for Ukraine ‘will require work’ | G20

Western leaders told the G20 summit in Johannesburg, which Trump boycotted, that the US peace plan to end the war in Ukraine “will require additional work”.

The draft plan, leaked earlier this week, supported some of Russia’s demands, such as handing over parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, limiting its army and abandoning its goals of joining NATO. Washington gave Kiev until Thursday to respond.

European leaders met on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the response to the plan.

They said in a joint statement that the draft “contains important elements that will be necessary for a just and lasting peace” but that there is “a basis that will require additional work”.

They were clear that “borders should not be changed by force.”

They added that any elements related to the EU and NATO would need their agreement and that they were “ready to take action to ensure that future peace is sustainable”.

The declaration was signed by the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, Norway and the EU, as well as the prime ministers of Canada and Japan.

A Ukrainian official wrote on social media that Ukraine and the United States will meet in Switzerland in the coming days to discuss Washington’s plan.

Speaking to reporters at the summit in Johannesburg, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that leaders were concerned about US proposals to limit the Ukrainian army because “it is vital that Ukraine can defend itself in the event of a ceasefire.”

He described the Ukraine meeting on the sidelines of the summit as being between “mainly allies from the coalition of the willing,” and repeated that “the consensus was that there are elements in the 28-point plan which are essential to lasting peace, but it requires additional work, and we are going to engage on that.”

Starmer said he expected to meet the US president “in the coming days” but his main focus would be on talks in Geneva on Sunday, where he said he would be talking to “senior US staff, European NSAs (security advisors) including the UK NSA and, of course, the Ukrainians”. [will be] “I’m there to work more on the draft.”

More broadly, French President Emmanuel Macron has questioned the effectiveness of the G20, saying the group of the world’s largest economies is “at risk” due to its inability to find common ground and resolve major crises.

“The G20 may be approaching the end of a cycle,” the French leader warned. “We are living in a geopolitical period where we are trying to solve major crises together around this table, including members who are not present today.”

Washington boycotted the meeting of world leaders in South Africa over a range of issues, including the widely discredited claim that the host country’s white minority was the victim of large-scale murders. The South African government has vehemently denied these allegations.

Macron said the group of 19 countries had difficulty finding consensus on issues such as humanitarian law and sovereignty.

He pointed specifically to the US unilateral peace plan, and reiterated that “there can be no peace in Ukraine without Ukrainians, without respect for their sovereignty”.

Macron said world leaders must recognize that “the G20 will be at risk if we do not collectively re-engage around several priorities.” He added: “We must demonstrate that we have concrete actions to reactivate this forum and collectively provide answers for our economies around this table.”

Starmer agreed, saying the “road ahead is challenging” but that “we must again find ways to play a constructive role in the face of the world’s challenges today.”

Although the main focus was peace in Ukraine, G20 leaders also called for peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Before the summit, there were concerns that the absence of Trump, as well as other leaders from Russia and China, would risk damaging the credibility of the first G20 meeting to be held on the African continent.

But summit host President Cyril Ramaphosa argued that the group was vital for international cooperation. “The G20 underlines the importance of multilateralism. It recognizes that the challenges we face can only be solved through cooperation, collaboration and partnership,” he said.

The USA will assume the G20 presidency in 2026, followed by the UK, which will host the global meeting in 2027.