On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, European and Western leaders held an “urgent discussion” on U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine. In a statement the officials said they welcomed the U.S. efforts to bring peace to Ukraine, and that the 28-point peace plan “includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace.” However, they add, it will “require additional work.”
The careful language attempted to hide the absolute panic that has set in among Ukraine’s backers in Europe after the news of Trump’s peace plan broke. The statement specified their main concerns, that “borders must not be changed by force” (meaning Russia should not be given any of Ukraine’s territory), the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, and the demand that Ukraine be restricted in joining NATO.
The meeting included European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Von der Leyen put out her own statement on Nov. 23, largely reiterating the same concerns. “The centrality of the European Union in securing peace for Ukraine must be fully reflected,” the statement said. Apparently, the EU plans to host a summit with Canada and Ukraine on this issue as well.
Furthermore, an article in Politico EU reports on the ongoing hysteria from Europe. One EU diplomat warned against even engaging with the U.S. proposal, as doing so would “lend legitimacy” to something that they said is a “non-starter.” The article also quotes current and former European officials who have described the plan as “scandalous,” and one who said Witkoff needs “a psychiatrist” if he thinks it will fly. The leaders of the 27 EU countries will hold another meeting on Monday, Nov. 24 in Angola on the sidelines of the Europe-Africa summit, to work on a counterproposal.
Reports were swirling throughout the day on Nov. 23 of European counter-proposals to the Trump-Witkoff plan, however, it remains unclear as to who has proposed what, and which version is the final one. In all cases, however, Europe appears to be attempting to walk back some of the more difficult clauses, such as restrictions on Ukrainian armed forces, membership in NATO, and the use of frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, although there’s no indication the U.S. is open to that at all. Asked at the end of his day of meetings in Switzerland about the European counter-proposals, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he wasn’t aware of any counter-proposals.
