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President Donald Trump’s administration is rejecting claims that its most recent plan for a peace deal in Ukraine was really a Russian “wish list.”
Confusion arose regarding the deal after lawmakers on Capitol Hill claimed they were told by White House officials that the deal was a proposal from the Russian side. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since pushed back on that claim, however.
“[Rubio] made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said at a press conference. “It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan. It is a proposal that was received, and as an intermediary, we have made arrangements to share it — and we did not release it. It was leaked.”
Rubio responded to this narrative with a post on social media, writing that the peace proposal “was authored by the U.S.”
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“It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine,” he added.
Rounds released another statement through his press office after Rubio’s response.
“I appreciate Secretary Rubio briefing us earlier today on their efforts to bring about peace by relying on input from both Russia and Ukraine to arrive at a final deal,” Rounds wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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Rubio traveled to Geneva on Sunday to meet with Ukrainian officials alongside Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, where they are expected to hash out Kyiv’s misgivings regarding the deal.
Trump himself lashed out at Ukraine over the peace talks in a Sunday statement.
“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
While the current agreement has not been made public, a leaked draft has been reported to include terms that would halt the fighting in Ukraine while giving Russia concessions like control over Ukrainian territory that the Russian military does not yet control, as well as barring Ukraine from membership in NATO.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not reject the plan outright in an address last week, but he insisted on fair treatment while pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners in what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history.”
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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