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Ukrainian, US and European officials met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss a draft plan presented by Washington to end the war in Ukraine, after Kyiv and its allies voiced alarm over what they saw as major concessions to the aggressor Russia.US President Donald Trump, who has championed the 28-point plan, said on Sunday that Ukraine had not been grateful for American efforts over the war, even as US weapons continue to flow to Kyiv via NATO and Europe keeps buying Russian oil. On Friday, Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had until Thursday to approve the plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO.For many Ukrainians, including soldiers fighting on the front lines, such terms would amount to capitulation after nearly four years of fighting in Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. On Saturday, Trump said the current proposal for ending the war is not his final offer.With the U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the main talks between US and Ukrainian officials got under way in Geneva on Sunday afternoon in a stiff atmosphere at the US mission, soon after Trump complained in a Truth Social post that Ukraine's leadership had shown "zero gratitude" to the U.S. for its efforts and Europe continued to buy Russian oil.Since the U.S. plan was announced, there has been confusion about who was involved in drawing it up. European allies said they had not been consulted. As officials began meeting, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the goal was to craft a plan acceptable to Ukraine which could be used in a negotiation with Russia. "Right now, I'm not yet convinced we're going to get the solution President Trump wants in the next few days," Merz said on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Johannesburg.Before heading to Geneva, Rubio insisted on X that Washington had authored the plan after remarks from some US senators suggesting otherwise. Senator Angus King said Rubio had told senators the plan was not the administration's position, but "essentially the wish-list of the Russians." Europeans have submitted a modified version of the US plan for Ukraine that pushes back on proposed limits to Kyiv's armed forces and territorial concessions, according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.The draft US plan, which includes many of Russia's key demands and offers only vague assurances to Ukraine of "robust security guarantees", comes at a perilous moment for Kyiv. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that Ukraine's borders cannot be changed by force, its army cannot be left vulnerable to attack and that the European Union must have a central role in a Ukraine peace deal. Russia has been making gains on parts of the front, albeit slowly and, according to Western and Ukrainian officials, the advances have been extremely costly in terms of lives lost.The transportation hub of Pokrovsk has been partially taken by Russian forces and Ukrainian commanders say they do not have enough soldiers to prevent small, persistent incursions. Ukraine's power and gas facilities have been pummelled by drone and missile attacks, meaning millions of people are without water, heating and power for hours each day.Zelenskiy himself has been under pressure domestically after a major corruption scandal broke, ensnaring some of his ministers and people in his close entourage. He has warned that Ukraine risked losing its dignity and freedom - or Washington's backing - over the US plan.Zelenskiy welcomed the diplomatic efforts in Geneva, saying that he hoped they would lead to a result. Kyiv had taken heart in recent weeks after the United States tightened sanctions on Russia's oil sector, the main source of funding for the war, while its own long-range drone and missile strikes have caused considerable damage to the industry.But the draft peace plan appears to hand the diplomatic advantage back to Moscow. Ukraine relies heavily on U.S. intelligence and weapons to sustain its war against Russia. Rubio and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived on Sunday for the hastily convened Geneva meeting. "We hope to iron out the final details...to draft a deal that is advantageous to them (Ukraine)," a US official said. "Nothing will be agreed on until the two presidents get together," the official said, referring to Trump and Zelenskiy.US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll was also in Geneva for the talks, where Ukraine's delegation is led by the head of Zelenskiy's office, Andriy Yermak. Yermak said his delegation met with the national security advisers from Britain, France and Germany and would next hold talks with the United States.European and other Western leaders have said the US peace plan was a basis for talks to end the war but needed "additional work". Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday about Ukraine and share the outcome with European and US allies.Putin has described the plan as the basis for a resolution to the conflict, but Moscow may object to some proposals in the scheme, which requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Thursday called on Spaniards to defend the "miracle" of their democracy as the divided country marked the 50th anniversary of ex-dictator Francisco Franco's death. The general's demise on November 20, 1975 ended 36 years of authoritarian right-wing rule that followed a devastating 1936-1939 civil war which brought him to power.Spain then embarked on a transition to democracy that has seen it become a stable EU and Nato member and one of the world's wealthiest countries. "That November 20 did not only mark the end of Western Europe's last dictatorship, but also the beginning of a journey that would lead us to regain freedom and prosperity and to win back lost democracy," Sanchez wrote on news website elDiario.es. "Let us remember that we live in a unique country, that we live in a present that represented a tiny possibility 50 years ago," added Sanchez in the article published late on Wednesday. "Spain, Spaniards, both men and women, will never let that miracle disappear." "Democracy is our power. Let's defend it," the Socialist leader added in an X post Thursday.Franco's legacy continues to split society, with experts warning that inaccurate social media content has spurred a positive opinion among young people with scant knowledge of the period. According to a poll published Thursday by *El Pais daily, almost one-quarter of Spaniards aged 18 to 28 believed an authoritarian regime may "sometimes" be preferable to a democracy. Around 40% of respondents had a "very good", "good" or neutral opinion of the regime, while 55% viewed it as "bad" or "very bad". "It is precisely now, when some idealise authoritarian regimes and cling to nostalgia for a past that never was, when we must step forward in defence of a freedom that was snatched from us for so many years," Sanchez wrote in elDiario.es. No official commemorative events were planned Thursday under the "50 years of Spain at Liberty" programme, with the government saying it aimed to celebrate the recovery of democracy throughout the year.The conservative opposition says Sanchez plays "the Franco card" to distract attention from a series of corruption investigations that threaten to topple his minority leftist coalition. It has accused the government of reopening the wounds of the past with legislation that aims to pay tribute to the memory of Franco's victims, vowing to repeal the laws if it returns to power.A mass in honour of Franco was held Thursday at a memorial site outside Madrid formerly called the Valley of the Fallen, seen as a triumphalist monument to the general's side in the civil war. The government exhumed Franco's remains from the renamed Valley of Cuelgamuros in 2019 to stop it becoming a shrine for far-right sympathisers.Around 25 people gathered at his current resting place in a cemetery in Madrid's northern outskirts, some bringing flowers and making fascist salutes. Luis Lopez, a 48-year-old driver who arrived carrying a Franco-era Spanish flag, told AFP the dictator "did a lot for the country and his true worth is not recognised". The Francisco Franco Foundation, which the government is seeking to dissolve, and his family have organised commemorative masses across Spain.

Standing in the centre of rainy Kaliningrad, the isolated Russian exclave surrounded by Nato countries, Russian factory worker Alexander felt confident.Economically hit by being cut-off from its EU neighbours and physically isolated from the rest of Russia, officials and locals are putting on a brave face amid claims they are under siege from neighbours Poland and Lithuania.The Baltic states surrounding Kaliningrad, all Nato members, have been some of Ukraine's staunchest backers since Moscow launched its offensive in February 2022.Poland and Lithuania "want to show off, display their strength, reinforce their borders", said Alexander, 25, who did not give his surname.But his city is "certainly not one that surrenders", he added, taking pride that Russia had far more weapons than its smaller neighbours.His defiance echoes the Kremlin's relentless criticism of Nato.Russian leader Vladimir Putin has for years accused the military alliance of breaking an apparent promise not to expand eastwards.In June, he said Russians had been "tricked, duped on the subject of Nato's non-expansion".Ukraine and the West reject that narrative as a pretext advanced by Putin to justify the offensive, which has become Europe's largest conflict since World War II.In Russia's neighbours, the intensity of the confrontation is palpable.Poland and Lithuania, which have a land border with Kaliningrad, have virtually closed their borders for Russians, bar limited exceptions.In recent weeks, Estonia and Lithuania have reported Russian jets violating their airspace.And Poland's new president Karol Nawrocki said he believed Russia was "ready to hit at other countries" after Nato scrambled jets to shoot down Russian drones flying through Polish airspace.Kaliningrad — a previously German city called Konigsberg until it became Soviet after WWII — is strategic for Moscow.It is home to Russia's Baltic Fleet, as well as Iskander ballistic missiles, the same kind that Moscow regularly fires on Ukraine.The region's governor did not respond to an AFP request for an interview.The Kremlin's hardline messages run deep with many.Marina, a 63 year-old who works in a clothes shop, mocked the region's EU neighbours, saying they should focus on their own problems."Let them bark," she said. "I am 100 percent protected in Kaliningrad. I am not scared of Nato."Showing Russian tourists round the tomb of philosopher Immanuel Kant, guide Anna Dmitrik was relieved that Kaliningrad had not been targeted by the Ukrainian retaliatory drone attacks that have hit many other regions."It's calm here. We are not scared for now," she said, adding: "I don't know what will happen next."Still, reminders of the war are everywhere.Banners encouraged men to sign up to fight in Ukraine for Russia's "victorious army". Giant Zs — the symbol of Moscow's forces in Ukraine — decorated buildings.But behind the defiance, Kaliningrad's locals struggled with the feeling of being more isolated, and worse off, than before February 2022.Banned from EU airspace, planes connecting the exclave to the rest of Russia must take a long detour northwards via the Gulf of Finland.A train linking it to Moscow is physically sealed as it crosses Lithuania, with Russian passengers requiring a visa or transit permit to board.And Vilnius has closed its border with key Russian ally Belarus for at least a month over the intrusion of balloons carrying thousands of illegal cigarettes into the EU state.Before "you could go to Poland to shop or just take a walk. Buses and trucks were running", said mechanic Vitaly Tsypliankov, 48."Life was better then," he added."Now everything is closed. Everything is more expensive, absolutely everything has become costlier."Inflation has surged across Russia amid the Ukraine offensive, but complicated logistics hit Kaliningrad especially hard.While Poland's border is technically open, only Russians with EU residency can enter. Traffic into the country has virtually stopped.Most petrol stations near the border are empty if not shut down.The giant Baltia shopping mall, on the road to the airport, is sparsely frequented."Kaliningrad's economic situation is very bad," said Irina, a saleswoman there."Logistics are very complicated to bring in products from (the rest of) Russia," she said, puffing on a cigarette."Everything is more expensive."

Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation Sergei Naryshkin said that European member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are preparing for war with Russia. Naryshkin added during a meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Samarkand, "we see how the European NATO allies are preparing for war with our country. The task has been set to quickly provide all the necessary resources to the Allied Rapid Reaction Forces designated for this purpose," according to both RIA Novosti and Sputnik News. "The process of significantly increasing the production of the European military-industrial complex has begun. Mobilization exercises and propaganda indoctrination about the inevitable aggression from Moscow have become a regular practice," he said. Naryshkin stressed that restraint, the ability to compromise, and responsibility are now required to avoid a new global armed conflict, noting that Russia has observed in recent years unprecedented NATO activity along its western borders, emphasizing that the West must abandon its policy of militarizing the continent. He also accused Kyiv of ignoring the commitment made by the administration of US President Donald Trump to engage in constructive discussions to resolve the crisis.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called for a firm and prudent response to Russia's repeated violations of NATO airspace over Poland and Estonia. In a statement before leaving Berlin for Poland, Wadephul affirmed Germany's support for Poland, saying that they stand united, maintain calm, and will not allow themselves to be drawn into escalation, leaving no room for doubt about their determination and readiness to jointly confront any threat. He stressed that Moscow's repeated breaches were not accidental mistakes, but rather deliberate attacks, describing them as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's hybrid aggression. Such provocations are extremely dangerous, and their sole purpose is to test determination, Wadephul added. Warsaw announced that numerous Russian drones had violated Polish airspace, meaning NATO airspace, during a Russian air attack on Ukraine about two weeks ago, adding that the Polish air force and other NATO allies shot down some of these drones for the first time.

Ukraine said Sunday that Russia pounded the country with "hundreds" of drones and missiles overnight, wounding at least 10 people, as neighbouring Poland scrambled jets to secure its airspace. The attacks came after Russia warned NATO against taking sterner action in response to alleged incursions into airspace covered by the military alliance.They also followed the revelation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Kyiv had received a US-made Patriot air defence system from Israel for use against Russian assaults. "Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on X."Again, hundreds of drones and missiles, destroying residential buildings and causing civilian casualties," he said. He posted footage of flames bursting from the windows of a multi-storey apartment block, which Sybiga said was as a result of the attack.Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that the Ukrainian capital was under a "massive" assault and urged people to stay in shelters. He said at least six people had been wounded "as a result of the enemy's attack", five of whom were treated in hospital and one at the scene.The governor of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region said Russian strikes there had wounded at least four people.Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, accused Moscow of waging a "war against civilians". "There will be a response to these actions. But the West's economic blows against Russia must also be stronger," Yermak said.Poland's armed forces said on X that they had scrambled fighter jets in its airspace and put ground-based air defence systems on high alert in response to the Russian strikes in Ukraine.The moves were preventive and aimed at securing Polish airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas close to Ukraine, the forces said. 'They will regret it'In recent weeks, several European countries have accused Russia of violating their airspace with drones and fighter jets, in what NATO has viewed as a test of its resolve.Russia has denied that it is responsible for the incursions or that it plans to attack any NATO nation.Speaking during an address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday, Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response".Speaking later to reporters, Lavrov said that if any country downs objects still within Russian airspace, "they will very much regret it".After returning from his own trip to New York, where he also addressed the UN, Zelensky told reporters that "the Israeli (Patriot) system is operating in Ukraine", adding that Kyiv would receive two more this autumn.While initially neutral in the conflict, Israel's ties with Moscow have cooled as Russia has drifted closer to Iran and condemned Israel's war in Gaza.Kyiv and Moscow also said on Saturday that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant -- Europe's largest -- had been off the grid for four days, stoking fears of a potential nuclear incident.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called on NATO to strengthen deterrence following an incursion of Russian drones into Poland's airspace. In an interview with Germany's Bild newspaper, Nawrocki said: "We must do everything to be ready for war, because only that ensures peace." He added he expected "such attacks on NATO territory" would not happen again and that the alliance would be even better prepared.Only three or four drones were shot down, but the president expressed satisfaction that no Polish soldiers or civilians were killed.Nawrocki said he was confident the attack was "directly controlled from Moscow" and a demonstration of Russian President Vladimir Putin's capabilities.