Lawmakers critical of President Donald Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war said they met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday and were told that the peace plan he is pushing Kiev to accept is a Russian “wish list” and not an actual proposal that lays out Washington’s position.
A State Department spokesperson rejected their accounts as “blatant falsehoods.”
Rubio himself then took the unusual step of suggesting online that the senators were wrong, even though the senators had claimed that he was the source of the information. The secretary of state pressed Washington to bear responsibility for the proposal, which surprised many because it was so advantageous to Russia from the start.
All of this has combined to create a confusing and potentially embarrassing situation for the Trump administration’s celebrated peace plan, which already faces a potentially rocky future.
The widely leaked 28-point U.S.-backed peace plan was the result of a month of work between Rubio and Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff, and included input from both Ukrainians and Russians, the White House said. The plan tacitly acknowledges many Russian demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has flatly rejected dozens of times, including giving up vast tracts of territory. President Trump said he hoped Ukraine would accept the plan by late next week.
“This administration is not responsible for this release in its current form,” South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds said at a national security conference in Canada. “They want to use that as a starting point.”
“It looked like it was written in Russian from the beginning,” Lowndes said.
The senators said they heard from Mr. Rubio after he contacted some of them on his way to Geneva to discuss the plan. Independent Maine Sen. Angus King said Rubio told him the plan was “not the administration’s plan” but “a wish list for the Russians.”
A bipartisan group of senators, some of the most veteran and most focused on foreign relations, came together in a press conference to relay Mr. Rubio’s message on the phone call.
Rubio, who serves as both the president’s national security adviser and secretary of state, will attend Sunday’s meeting in Geneva as part of the U.S. delegation and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter with U.S. participants, the people said.
“The peace plan was drafted by the United States and is proposed as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations,” Rubio wrote on X. “It is based on input from the Russian side, but also on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said the senators’ account was “patently false.”
A senior Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of internal discussions, said Saturday night that the White House has consistently maintained that the plan was developed by the United States but included input from Russians and Ukrainians.
The official said the plan has always been considered by the administration as a place to help begin ongoing negotiations toward a more permanent peace plan.
Senators said early Saturday that the plan would only reward Russia’s aggression and send a message to other leaders who have threatened neighboring countries.
“We reward aggression, pure and simple. Russia’s claim to eastern Ukraine is ethically, legally, morally and politically unjustifiable,” King said during a panel discussion at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.
President Putin welcomed the proposal late Friday, saying it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement” if the United States could get the consent of Ukraine and its European allies.
In his speech, President Zelenskiy did not reject the plan outright, but insisted on fair treatment, pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners during what he called “truly one of the most difficult times in the history of our country.”
Now in its 17th year, the Halifax International Security Forum, held at Halifax’s Westin Hotel, draws approximately 300 people each year. The forum attracts military personnel, U.S. senators, diplomats and academics, but the Trump administration earlier this year suspended U.S. defense officials from attending think tank events such as the Halifax International Security Forum.
Many U.S. senators visited the United States this year, partly due to the strained relationship between Canada and the United States. President Trump has alienated neighboring America with his trade war and his insistence that Canada should become America’s 51st state. Many Canadians are now refusing to travel to the United States, and border states like Shaheen, New Hampshire have seen a dramatic drop in tourism.
