Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the claims, writing on social media that "the peace proposal was authored by the U.S."

Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and other administration representatives met Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev to draft the peace plan, which came as a surprise to U.S. officials at home and abroad.

The gathering in South Africa comes as US President Donald Trump gives Ukraine until Thursday to agree to the deal.

President Trump said the peace plan is not his last offer as Ukrainian and U.S. officials are set to meet in Geneva for negotiations.

European leaders are hoping to bolster the controversial plan, which Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was forcing his country to choose between "dignity" and a "key partner."

In a joint statement, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine, which faces the prospect of losing American support if it rejects the latest proposal.

By force of personality and deadlines, the U.S. president is trying to jam through a plan to stop a grinding conflict between two reluctant warring parties.

Ukraine is at “one of the most difficult moments” of its history, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, as a proposal to end the fighting drafted by the United States puts pressure on Kyiv to cede territory,