MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has announced the beginning of talks between the Ukrainian delegation and European partners and the US delegation in Switzerland to discuss steps toward ending the conflict.

"Meanwhile, teams are meeting in Switzerland to work on steps toward ending the war. A good thing is that diplomacy has become more intense and that the conversation may be constructive. The Ukrainian and American teams, the teams of our European partners are in close contact and I hope there will be a result. <…> I am waiting for the results of today’s talks. I hope that all the participants will demonstrate a constructive approach. All of us need a positive result," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

The beginning of the talks was earlier announced by Zelensky’s office chief, Andrey Yermak. "A range of meetings in various formats are scheduled for today. We continue working together to reach a lasting and fair peace for Ukraine," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Reuters reported earlier, citing an unnamed US official, that Washington and Kiev’s negotiating teams will meet in Geneva to agree the last details of the US peace plan for Ukraine.

EU leaders on Saturday expressed their disagreement with a range of provisions of Washington’s peace plan and called for amending it. According to Germany’s Bild newspaper, the German government is concerned over the US initiative and began working on diplomatic countermeasures.

According to the US-proposed plan, which was leaked to the Western media, the United States and other countries will have to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, Donbass and other territories that Ukraine will have to give up. In return, Kiev will receive American and European security guarantees. A demilitarized zone will be created, and Ukrainian troops will be withdrawn from areas therein.

The Axios portal quoted an American official as saying that the line of contact between the nations in the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions will be frozen, and Russia will have to return some areas to Ukraine. The Ukrainian army will be significantly reduced and will lose long-range weapons. The deployment of foreign troops will be banned, and Russian will have to become an official state language. Bloomberg reported that the new US plan also provides for the lifting of sanctions against Russia.