Meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit, European and other allied leaders scrambled to come up with a co-ordinated response to US President Donald Trump's urging for Ukraine to accept a 28-point peace plan with Russia by Thursday.
Trump said in brief remarks later 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.
The US plan, which reportedly endorses some 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 but also recognising that for Ukraine, some of the terms in his proposal are unpalatable.
"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 European Union (EU), Germany, France, the United Kingdom, 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 his country faced a choice of either losing its dignity and freedom or United States 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 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.
As leaders raced to come up with a co-ordinated response to the peace plan, Ukraine said it would hold talks with high-ranking US officials in Switzerland on ending Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine which is now in its fourth year.
"Ukraine will never be an obstacle to peace, and representatives of the Ukrainian state will defend the legitimate interests of the Ukrainian people and the foundations of European security," a statement from the Ukrainian presidency said.
National security advisers from the E3 - an informal security alliance of France, the UK and Germany - will meet EU, US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the proposed peace plan, officials said on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
On Friday, Trump said Zelenskiy had until Thursday to approve the 28-point plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join the NATO military alliance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the plan as the basis of a resolution to the conflict but the Kremlin may object to some proposals in the plan which requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured and agree that $US100 billion ($A155 billion) of Russia's assets frozen in the EU would be invested to rebuild Ukraine.
US Vice President JD Vance said that any plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine should preserve Ukrainian sovereignty and be acceptable to both countries but that it was a "fantasy" to think Ukraine could win if the US were to give it more money or weapons or impose more sanctions on Russia.
with AP
