Main points of a brand new peace plan for Ukraine are rising after officers from america, Ukraine and its Eu allies met in Geneva on November 23. They mentioned the 28-point plan offered by way of Russia and america the former week, which has been broadly criticised as requiring concessions from Kyiv that critics stated could be tantamount to give up.
Those two plans, which constitute the contrasting positions licensed by way of Ukraine and Russia, at the moment are being mentioned in Abu Dhabi by way of officers from america, Russia and Ukraine.
The plan which emerged from Geneva is reportedly according to a Eu counter-proposal to the US-Russia plan that have been evolved in Miami by way of US envoy Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Complete main points of the Geneva plan haven’t begun to be printed. However studies counsel that in contrast to the US-Russian plan, it leaves open the door to Nato club, gets rid of restrictions at the measurement of Ukraine’s post-war military, and gets rid of a suggestion for an amnesty for battle crimes dedicated since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Essentially the most contentious problems, together with any territory to be ceded by way of Kyiv and Ukraine’s long run Nato club – one thing that Russia strongly opposes – will probably be determined by way of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his US counterpart, Donald Trump. Ukraine is looking for a gathering between Trump and Zelensky inside days to iron out the remainder problems.
It’s no wonder that neither Ukraine nor its allies in Europe had been pleased with the the US-Russia deal evolved by way of Witkoff and Dmitriev. Except having a look extra like a plan for Kyiv’s capitulation than a reputable pathway to peace, it items some critical issues – each prison and ethical.
Territorial concessions
The 28-point US-Russia proposal suggests Ukraine must concede portions of Ukraine’s the world over recognised territory together with Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, which might then change into the world over recognised as a part of Russia. It additionally requires the frontlines to be frozen in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, with “de facto recognition” alongside the present line of touch between the 2 armies.
The state of the clash in Ukraine, November 24 2025.
Institute for the Learn about of Warfare
This might legitimise acquisition of territory by way of power and aggression, and therefore could be in contravention of duties beneath Article 2(4) of the UN Constitution, which prohibits the “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state”.
The illegality of Russia’s invasion in 2022 was once underlined in June 2025 when the Council of Europe established a distinct tribunal to prosecute senior political and army management “for the crime of aggression against Ukraine”.
If the territorial concessions detailed within the US-Russia plan had been to be followed, they might obstruct efficient investigation and prosecution of this sort of crimes of aggression – and thus set a deadly precedent for long run conflicts.
Impunity and duty
The USA-Russia plan’s proposed blanket amnesty for battle crimes additionally contradicts foreign legislation. The legislation governing habits of hostilities – and public foreign legislation usually – imposes a duty for states to analyze, prosecute and punish battle crimes.
Whilst foreign legislation does now not outlaw amnesties in pursuit of reconciliation, for the established order of reality or to stop battle routine, those must now not intrude with a state’s legal responsibility to analyze and prosecute foreign crimes. So, blanket amnesties are incompatible with this requirement.
The dimensions of documented violations in Ukraine over just about 4 years makes the speculation of an amnesty particularly troubling. The Ukrainian government, with toughen from civil society, have documented greater than 183,000 alleged battle crimes since 2022.
The World Prison Courtroom has issued arrest warrants for senior Russian figures together with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. Nationwide prosecutors in Europe are pursuing circumstances beneath common jurisdiction.
Granting amnesty would nullify those investigations. It could sign that even the gravest crimes can move unpunished on account of political deal-making.
The foundations of transitional justice position sufferers on the centre of any post-conflict processes. They’re entitled, beneath foreign legislation, to reality, justice and reparations. However the US-Russia plan does now not define any function for sufferers. As a substitute, it successfully deprives them in their proper to pursue justice.
Any peace deal must be sure justice for the sufferers of this battle of aggression.
EPA/Maria Senovilla
Analysis means that peace agreements with out mechanisms to make sure duty all too steadily finally end up with additional outbreaks of violence. The pursuit of justice, which will come with – however must now not be restricted to – prison prosecutions, can also be gradual, pricey and imperfect. However it has a tendency to enhance the rule of thumb of legislation and supply some type of treatment to the sufferers.
The USA-Russia plan’s clause restricting the scale of Ukraine’s post-conflict military to 600,000 workforce could also be debatable.
It is not uncommon to look measures comparable to demobilisation and disarmament in non-international armed conflicts. This was once a part of the agreement in peace negotiation processes for Colombia’s long civil battle in 2016. However making use of them to a state which is the sufferer of aggression in a world armed clash reverses the good judgment of duty.
Ukraine is the state beneath assault. Restricting its defence capacity whilst the aggressor keeps its forces undermines each safety and justice.
A delicate ‘peace’
Critics have described the US-Russia plan as “a gift to Putin”, because it aligns with the Kremlin’s longstanding calls for whilst pushing aside Ukraine’s prison rights. It could develop into the way forward for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians right into a bargaining chip for great-power politics.
Alternatively, it sounds as if that Kyiv’s Eu allies recognise this risk. The negotiations now underway in Abu Dhabi will probably be necessary – as will any assembly between Trump and Zelensky to agree the framework of a brand new deal which slightly represents Kyiv’s place.
A real and simply peace settlement should replicate the device of foreign legislation which, for 80 years, has sought to stop such a aggression that Russia has unleashed on Ukraine. The 28-point plan offered by way of america and Russia obviously failed to satisfy that check.
It’s now as much as Ukraine and its allies to be sure that any plan which does move ahead rests on justice, duty and the rights of sufferers – now not on concessions to an aggressor.
