Western leaders rally behind Kyiv

European and other Western leaders said on Saturday a US peace plan was a basis for talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine but needed "additional work", part of Western efforts to eke out a better deal for Kyiv before a Thursday deadline.

Meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit, 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 peace plan with Russia by Thursday.

They agreed 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. Italy would also send an official, diplomatic sources said.

The US plan, which endorses key Russian demands, was met with measured criticism in many European capitals, with leaders trying to balance praise for Trump for trying to end the fighting with recognition that some of the 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.

The leaders met after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine faced a choice of either losing its dignity and freedom or Washington's backing over the plan. He appealed to Ukrainians for unity, promising never to betray Ukraine. 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 agree a way to try to secure 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.