Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says peace plan not ‘final offer’ as senators brand it a Russian ‘wish list’

Russia’s government is tightening its internet control, with widespread outages and restrictions already defining 2025 for its citizens. These pervasive measures are impacting daily life, from public transport to critical health monitoring.

The impact is profound: credit cards fail for public transport, ATMs disconnect, and messaging apps are down.

Mobile phones often lose texts and data after international travel, and mothers of diabetic children report being unable to monitor blood glucose levels during outages.

For months, mobile phone internet shutdowns have affected dozens of Russian regions, ostensibly thwarting Ukrainian drone attacks. Popular messaging apps are also restricted, with the government promoting a state-controlled alternative critics fear is a surveillance tool.

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said he will speak with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky later on Sunday, as European and other Western security advisers meet in Geneva to discuss a peace plan put forward by the US.

“The follow-up is being done by our national security advisors. I will be speaking with President Zelenskiy later today, just to close the loop on some aspects,” he said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Johannesburg.

Trump’s America is falling into autocracy and advocates for Russian victory in Ukraine – it’s time the West saw this and dealt with it, Sam Kiley, The Independent’s world affairs editor explains how

Sir Keir Starmer spoke with Trump late on Saturday after expressing how leaders were concerned that the current deal would not give Ukraine the means to defend itself, requiring a cap on the military and no Nato membership or peacekeepers.

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The president’s 28-point peace plan has been criticised as being favourable to Moscow, demanding Kyiv cede additional territory, limit the size of its military, and agree to never join Nato.

Trump has asked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to accept the proposal by Thanksgiving.

Bacon was one of several GOP lawmakers to criticise the peace plan.

“They’re pushing a surrender plan on Ukraine and one that will keep Ukraine vulnerable to Russian attacks in the decades to come. It looks like Russia wrote it,” he wrote in a social media post on Saturday.

Trump has given Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky until Thursday to accept the deal, which would cede territory to Moscow, take Nato off the table for Ukraine and allow Russia back into the G8.

As Zelensky faces a difficult choice, US officials and lawmakers have expressed their concern about Russian involvement in the plan after it was revealed the administration had held meetings with a blacklisted Kremlin official beforehand.

Kirill Dmitriev, a close ally of Putin, is the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and assumed the office of the special presidential envoy on Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation on 23 February this year despite little diplomatic experience, writes Bryony Gooch.

On Friday, Donald Trump threw down the gauntlet to Ukraine, saying Volodymyr Zelensky had until Thursday to approve his 28-point plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join Nato.

“He’ll have to like it, and if he doesn’t like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess,” he said.

“At some point he’s going to have to accept something he hasn’t accepted.”

Recalling their fractious February meeting with Zelensky, Trump added: “You remember right in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, ‘You don’t have the cards’.”

In their statement, Western leaders said they were “concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack”.

“We reiterate that the implementation of elements relating to the European Union and relating to Nato would need the consent of EU and Nato members respectively.”

At Sunday’s meeting in Geneva, European nations are keen to suggest changes to Trump’s plan, which Russian president Vladimir Putin described as the basis of a resolution to the conflict.

“There are many things that cannot simply be an American proposal, which requires broader consultation,” said French president Emmanuel Macron, adding that an agreement had to allow for peace for Ukrainians and “security for all Europeans”.

On Friday Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv faced a choice of either losing its dignity and freedom or Washington’s backing. He appealed to Ukrainians for unity.

That signal prompted European leaders to rally.

A German government source said they had met in a room in Johannesburg called “lion” and that the leaders had adopted the animal’s “spirit” in talks to seek a better deal for Ukraine.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz underlined the importance to Europe of supporting Ukraine.

“If Ukraine loses this war and possibly collapses, it will have an impact on European politics as a whole, on the entire European continent. And that is why we are so committed to this issue,” Merz said on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

“There is currently an opportunity to end this war, but we are still quite a long way from a good outcome for everyone.”

On Saturday, leaders of eight Nordic and Baltic nations said they had spoken with Zelensky and pledged to keep supplying arms.

In a joint statement, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden said: “Solutions that respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and that will bring Ukraine and Europe greater security and stability have our full support.”

Zelensky appealed to his country for unity.

The European and other Western leaders agreed that national security advisers from the E3 – France, Britain and Germany – would meet European Union, US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva on Sunday for further discussions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was en route to Geneva late on Saturday for the talks, a State Department official said.

Italy would also send an official, diplomatic sources said.

Washington’s plan, which endorses key Russian demands, was met with measured criticism from many US allies. Leaders sought to balance praise for Trump’s attempt to end the fighting with recognition that some terms in his proposal are unpalatable for Kyiv.

“The initial draft of the 28-point plan includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace,” said the leaders of the EU, Germany, France, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Italy, Japan and Norway.

“We believe therefore that the draft is a basis which will require additional work,” they said in a statement.

Western leaders said on Saturday that a peace plan proposed by the United States can be a basis for talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine but needs “additional work”, part of Western efforts to eke out a better deal for Kyiv before a Thursday deadline.

Meeting on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in South Africa, European and other Western leaders scrambled to come up with a coordinated response to US president Donald Trump’s demand for Ukraine to accept his 28-point plan by Thursday.

Trump said in brief remarks on Saturday that his proposal was not his final offer, signalling potential room for adjustments as Ukraine and its European allies stressed that the plan could serve as a foundation for negotiations but required changes.