The United States and Ukraine have drafted a new 19-point peace agreement during talks in Geneva, but the most politically sensitive issues have been left for the countries' presidents to decide.

Source: Serhii Kyslytsia, First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, in a comment to Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Kyslytsia, who was present as part of the Ukrainian delegation, said the meeting was "intense" but "productive", resulting in a thoroughly revised draft that left both sides with a "positive" impression.

He said that after hours of detailed talks in Geneva, the US and Ukrainian teams reached agreement on several issues but "placed in brackets" the most contentious ones.

These include territorial matters and the future relationship between NATO, Russia and the United States, which have now been left for Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to resolve.

Kyslytsia said the new draft bears little resemblance to the previously leaked version that caused uproar in Kyiv. "Very few things are left from the original version," he said.

Quote: "We developed a solid body of convergence, and a few things we can compromise on. The rest will need leadership decisions."

Details: The deputy foreign minister added that the Americans were attentive, willing to hear Ukraine's position and open to suggestions. "Almost everything we suggested was taken on board," he noted.

Kyslytsia said the American side now appears willing to abandon the proposal to limit the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to 600,000 personnel. He noted that US negotiators listened carefully to Ukraine's arguments and agreed to take them into account.

"They agreed the Ukrainian army number in the leaked version [of the peace plan draft] – whoever authored it – was no longer on the table," the official said.

A proposal for a blanket amnesty for potential war crimes in the original draft was revised to take into account "the grievances of those who suffered in the war", he added.

Kyslytsia repeatedly praised the "constructive engagement" of the American team, singling out US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner: "There was no point where they said: 'We won't discuss it'. We went through all points carefully."

Background:

• The Financial Times reported that following the Geneva talks – after which amendments were made to the Trump team's original proposal – the number of points in the plan was reduced from 28 to 19.
• After the negotiations, the US and Ukraine announced that they have prepared an updated peace document.

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