… for the vote of the European Jury. Here we have it: “WHOLE OF THE SENTIENT WORLD CALLING (VIA JOHANNESBURG): NULL POINTS FOR VLADIMIR’S DONNY’S 28-POINT “PEACE” PROPOSAL.”

Geneva became the centre of strategic gravity on Ukraine this week, as Ukrainian, American and European officials picked apart the 28-point peace proposal that has now moved from a rumour to a working document. The broad objectives of this proposal are clear:

• Donald wants a settlement to bolster his Nobel campaign
• Moscow wants to be able to package any “end” as a victory
• Kyiv wants to safeguard its sovereignty
• Europe wants to prevent a geopolitical humiliation
• The United Kingdom wants to matter.

The draft circulated asks Ukraine to accept territorial loss, to cap its armed forces at a level many consider dangerously low and abandon its attempt to edge towards NATO membership. European capitals have pushed back (via Johannesburg where most of them were attending a G20 meeting), offering counterproposals that raise the military cap, insist on negotiation from the existing line of contact and provide NATO-style guarantees rather than airy security assurances. The message from Brussels, London, Berlin and Paris has been simple enough: no peace that rewards aggression, no signatures that hollow out EU security.

London has worked hard to position itself as part of this European diplomatic push, rather than as an observer of it. Downing Street highlighted Starmer’s telephone discussions with Trump and sent Jonathan Powell, the UK National Security Adviser to Geneva to ensure British fingerprints were visible. The political need is obvious: a settlement that looks anything like appeasement would tear open Labour’s unity, undermine months of declaratory support for Ukraine and write easy attack lines on Labour credibility.

For all the choreography, the UK’s core issue remains brutally simple: the United Kingdom has moral clarity, but limited leverage. The outcome will define whether Britain is an actor in European security, or merely an informed bystander. That is why the mood in Westminster feels taut: the room where decisions are made is no longer guaranteed to include a British chair.

The Geneva “process” continues. Rubio, with one eye on his manchild bosses’ finger flickering over his social media account, emerged to say that the Geneva discussions were: “… the most productive and meaningful meeting so far in this entire process.” [Translation: “Please Donny, stop tweeting crap!”] European officials signal resistance. Ukraine insists on sovereignty. Russia waits to see who blinks. The next 48 hours may frame European security architecture for the next 40 years.

From Ukraine’s perspective, their response must be:

• “If you need an answer now, it’s “No”.” (The old ones are often amongst the best ones.)
• Speedily clarify whether and how Russia will become involved in this process at all.
• Obtain commitments from European friends (UK, FR, DE, NL, et al) to increase sanctions during the course of negotiations, however those appear to be going.
• Find 3-4 of the 28 proposals (some of them incomprehensible in their leaked form in any case) that Ukraine can agree to in order to be able to maintain the façade of “Mr Trump’s efforts to find peace are brilliant” and avert or avoid manchild meltdown.

In reality, Moscow expects the talks to collapse long before anything reaches Kyiv’s or indeed Moscow’s desk for signature. Meanwhile Moscow is polishing its preferred narrative: Trump tried, Zelensky blocks everything with European support and Russia remains serenely above the fray, always eager for peace. It does not matter to Putin that no-one believes this narrative, it is merely a “wrapper” for his domestic audience.

Meetings will continue in Geneva on Monday. Rubio emerged on Sunday evening to claim that the negotiations have been going on with Ukraine for 96 hours. In fact, the Russian proposal was put together by Putin ally, Kirill Dmitriev after meeting useful idiot Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami in October and leaked by him to the Press when it did not seem to be getting anywhere. Reuters, (Erin Banco & Gram Slattery, Reuters, 23rd November, 2025: “Trump officials’ meeting with Russian in Miami.“) Rubio is also reported to have told US Senators Mike Rounds and Angus King that the 28-point proposal was “just a Russian wish-list” which of course Rubio has subsequently denied (Matthew Mpoke Bigg, New York Times, 23rd November 2025: “Rubio insists U.S. authored the Ukraine Peace Plan.“) You go Rubio! Keep talking. Deny everything. Always. Send Donald a Giraffe.

Domestic politics, such as they are

Everything else felt like rather irrelevant background noise.

• The Budget countdown continues, described by the Treasury as “pivotal” officially, but as “ominous” in its unofficial leaks.
• Rachel Reeves’s week included an unhelpful conversation about mansplaining in which she neatly demonstrated that she was in immediate need of, errm, someone mansplaining that just being a female Chancellor does not mean she can just sleepwalk over the abyss of absurd fiscal and financial irrelevance and expect to be congratulated because she is apparently a woman. Or kidsplaining really. She is desperately, absurdly, disgracefully out of her (not only female) depth.
• The Institute for Government once again declared that public-service performance is stalled, which surprised absolutely nobody. (Institute for Government Performance Tracker 2025, 19th November 2025.)

In a normal week these could be UK headline stories. Luckily for Keir and Rache, this week HMG’s dire performance is just a footnote to negotiations in Geneva.