US senators say Rubio told them Trump’s Ukraine peace plan is Russia's 'wish list'

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — Lawmakers critical of President Donald Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war said Saturday they spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told them that the peace plan Trump is pushing Kyiv to accept is a “wish list” of the Russians and not the actual proposal offering Washington’s positions.

A State Department spokesperson denied their account, calling it “blatantly false."

Rubio himself then took the extraordinary step of suggesting online that the senators were mistaken, even though they said he was their source for the information. The secretary of state doubled down on the assertion that Washington was responsible for a proposal that had surprised many from the beginning for being so favorable to Moscow.

It all added up to a confusing — and potentially embarrassing — turn of events for a Trump administration-blessed peace plan that already faced a potentially rocky future.

The widely leaked 28-point U.S-backed peace plan was, according to the White House, the result of a month of work between Rubio and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff along with input from what it said was both Ukrainians and Russians. The plan acquiesces to many Russian demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has categorically rejected on dozens of occasions, including giving up large pieces of territory. Trump says he wants Ukraine to accept the plan by late next week.

“This administration was not responsible for this release in its current form,” said Republican Mike Rounds from South Dakota, speaking at a security conference in Canada. “They want to utilize it as a starting point.”

Rounds said “it looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with.”

The senators said they spoke to Rubio after he reached out to some of them while on his way to Geneva for talks on the plan. Independent Maine Sen. Angus King said Rubio told them the plan “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians.”

The bipartisan group of senators, who are veteran legislators and among those most focused on foreign relations, stood together at the press conference as they relayed Rubio’s message on the call.

Rubio, who serves as both national security adviser and secretary of state, was expected to attend a meeting in Geneva on Sunday to discuss Washington’s proposal as part of a U.S. delegation, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to publicly discuss the American participants before the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The peace proposal was authored by the U.S. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations,” Rubio posted on X. “It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine,” Rubio wrote.

Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesperson, said the senators' account was “blatantly false.”

A senior Trump administration official, who insisted on anonymity to detail internal discussions, noted Saturday night that the White House has consistently maintained that the plan was authored by the U.S. but included input from Russians and Ukrainians.

The official said the plan had always been considered by the administration as a helpful place to start continued negotiations with an eye toward working to a more lasting peace plan.

The senators earlier Saturday said the plan would only reward Moscow for its aggression and send a message to other leaders who have threatened their neighbors.

“It rewards aggression. This is pure and simple. There’s no ethical, legal, moral, political justification for Russia claiming eastern Ukraine,” King said during a panel discussion at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.

Putin welcomed the proposal late Friday, saying it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement” if the U.S. can get Ukraine and its European allies to agree.

Zelenskyy, in an address, did not reject the plan outright, but insisted on fair treatment while pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners in what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history.”

In its 17th year, about 300 people gather annually at the Halifax International Security Forum held at Halifax’s Westin hotel. The forum attracts military officials, U.S. senators, diplomats and scholars but this year the Trump administration suspended participation of U.S. defense officials in events by think tanks, including the Halifax International Security Forum.

A large number of U.S. senators made the trip this year in part because of strained relations between Canada and the U.S. Trump has alienated America’s neighbor with his trade war and insistence that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. Many Canadians now refuse to travel to the U.S. and border states like Shaheen’s New Hampshire are seeing a dramatic drop in tourism.

Weissert reproted from Washington. Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

Senator Peter Welch, of Vermont, left to right, Senator Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, Senator Angus King, of Maine and moderator congresswoman Jane Harman, Commission on the National Defense Strategy, United States, take part in the Halifax International Security Forum, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Kelly Clark

SSenator Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C. take part in the Halifax International Security Forum, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Kelly Clark/The Canadian Press via AP)

Senator Angus King, of Maine and moderator congresswoman Jane Harman, Commission on the National Defense Strategy, United States, take part in the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Kelly Clark

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising toward records Friday following the latest sign that the nation’s job market is doing better than economists expected.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% toward an all-time high after a report said U.S. employers added 115,000 more jobs than they cut last month, even though the war with Iran is raising fuel costs and uncertainty for everyone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 118 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher and heading for its own record.

While hiring slowed from March’s level, it was nevertheless nearly double what economists expected. And it kept the S&P 500 on track for a sixth straight winning week, which would be its longest such streak since 2024. The U.S. stock market has blasted higher since late March, in part on hopes that the war will not mean a worst-case scenario for the global economy and that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen to allow oil tankers to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf again.

It’s still to be determined if those hopes are warranted or just wishful. The United Arab Emirates said Friday that it responded to another Iranian missile barrage, hours after the United States said it traded fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest blows to a shaky month-old ceasefire.

But economists said the latest jobs data was encouraging, particularly given that it followed a stronger-than-expected report for March. Those two months saw the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil spike from roughly $70 in late February to as high as $119 at times as the fighting and closure of the Strait of Hormuz kept crude oil pent up in the Persian Gulf.

On Friday, Brent edged down 0.1% to $99.97 amid the uncertainty about the ceasefire with Iran.

Another big factor helping to support the U.S. stock market despite the war’s uncertainties is the strong profits that companies have been reporting for the start of 2026.

Monster Beverage jumped 12.7% after the energy drink maker joined the parade of companies topping analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue for the latest quarter. It benefited from strong growth outside the United States, and total net sales there made up about 45% of its total, the highest percentage ever for it.

Akamai Technologies leaped even more, 23.1%, after its results squeaked past expectations. It announced a $1.8 billion deal to provide cloud infrastructure services to an unnamed client over seven years. The cybersecurity and cloud computing company is benefiting from the surge in artificial-intelligence technology.

Such voracious demand for AI helped CoreWeave report revenue for the latest quarter that was more than double a year earlier, but its net loss was worse than analysts expected. It also gave a forecasted range for revenue in the current quarter whose midpoint fell below analysts’ expectations. The stock of the company, which offers AI computing power to customers over the cloud, fell 9.2%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.9%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.9% for two of the bigger losses.

South Korea’s Kospi was an exception, and it inched up 0.1% to another all-time high.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.35% from 4.41% late Thursday and from 4.45% early this week.

Lower yields can bring down rates for mortgages and other kinds of loans going to U.S. households and businesses, which in turn can give the economy a boost. Lower yields also tend to push upward on prices for stocks and other kinds of investments.

The 10-year Treasury yield, though, remains well above its 3.97% level from just before the war.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Options trader Justin Kanda works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer walks past near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won are displayed at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)