The United States has a new proposal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine that entails Kyiv giving up territory and some weaponry and has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he must accept it, according to several news reports.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the draft, several publications reported on Wednesday that the framework was drawn up in consultation with Russian officials.
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Russia, meanwhile, denied the existence of any new peace plan.
News of the proposal, which comes ahead of a scheduled meeting between Zelenskyy and US military officials in Kyiv on Thursday, would be a blow to Ukraine as it continues to lose territory in its east and has urgently called on allies for greater military support.
The Financial Times quoted an unidentified official as saying the proposal is “heavily tilted towards Russia” and “very comfortable for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin”.
Ukrainian officials briefed on the plan told the newspaper its requirements closely tracked with Russian demands for ending the conflict, and would be a “non-starter” for Kyiv without major changes.
Zelenskyy said the administration of US President Donald Trump must “remain effective” in order to bring the nearly four-year war with Russia to an end.
“The main thing for stopping the bloodshed and achieving lasting peace is that we work in coordination with all our partners and that American leadership remains effective, strong,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
Territory ceded, military downsized
The Financial Times, citing two people familiar with the talks, said the 28-point plan was delivered by US envoy Steve Witkoff in a meeting with Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, in Miami, Florida in the US this week.
Under the proposal, Ukraine would be required to cede the remainder of the eastern region of Donbas, including territory under Kyiv’s control, and cut the size of its armed forces by half, it said.
Reuters news agency, citing sources informed on the matter, also reported the proposal would include cutting the size of Ukraine’s military.
The proposed framework would require Kyiv to abandon certain categories of weaponry, the Times said, and would see US military assistance to the country rolled back.
Among other requirements of the plan, Russian would be recognised as an official state language in Ukraine, while official status would be granted to the Ukrainian division of the Russian Orthodox Church, the newspaper reported.
Russia said contacts with the US continue, but there are no new developments to announce on a possible peace plan to end the conflict in Ukraine.
In an interview with Russian state news agency TASS, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that while Moscow has followed numerous publications “describing various processes”, such reports should be assessed based on official communication rather than media narratives.
“There are official channels in the United States for resolving these issues, discussing them, and negotiating processes. These channels must be utilized,” Zakharova said. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not received any information from the American side in this context.”
Prisoner exchanges in the works
No direct talks have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since a meeting in Istanbul, Turkiye in July that failed to yield a breakthrough, although it resulted in prisoner of war (POW) exchanges between the countries.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy said he was “counting on the resumption” of further such exchanges after Umerov said consultations mediated by Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates were held on resuming the POW swaps.
Zelenskyy was in Turkiye on Wednesday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who urged Ukraine and Russia to return to Istanbul to resume their negotiations.
“In today’s meetings we … emphasised the need for the Istanbul process to continue with a pragmatic and results-oriented approach,” Erdogan told a news conference alongside Zelenskyy in Ankara.
“We also expect all our partners who wish to see the bloodshed in the region come to an end to adopt a constructive approach toward the Istanbul process.”
Despite international condemnation Russia has pressed on with its attacks on Ukraine with at least 25 people killed and dozens wounded in the latest drone and missile attacks on Wednesday.
