Emmanuel Macron arrives at the Johannesburg Exhibition Centre in South Africa on November 22, 2025, to take part in a trilateral meeting with the United Kingdom and Germany on the sidelines of the G20 summit. LEON NEAL / AFP
The meeting was set for Geneva, on neutral ground. From the Swiss city on Sunday, November 23, US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, accompanied by US Special Envoy for Ukraine Steve Witkoff and Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, were to meet with the Ukrainian delegation led by Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, along with French, British, German and European counterparts to discuss Donald Trump's "peace" plan. An Italian representative was expected to join them.
The 28-point document, presented to Kyiv's leaders two days earlier, is meant, according to the US president, to bring an end to the conflict triggered by Russia's invasion in February 2022. However, European diplomats have compared it to Ukraine's version of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles – in terms of territorial losses, military concessions and financial conditions. "Even the French were treated better at Rethondes in 1940. After this, it is hard to continue believing that the United States is still our ally," said François Heisbourg, an adviser at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank.
