Volodymyr Zelensky said after talks with a top US armyofficial he was ready for “honest” work with Washington on a plan to end the war in Ukraine, while European allies pushed back against punishing concessions to Russia.
Zelensky, whose office said he had received a draft of the plan, said after meeting US army secretary Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv that Ukraine and Washington would work together on elements of it.
“Our teams – Ukraine and the USA – will work on the points of the plan to end the war,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “We are ready for constructive, honest and prompt work.”
According to the US-backed plan, Kyiv would be required to give up the entire Donbas region and significantly downsize its military, conditions long seen by Ukraine’s allies as tantamount to capitulation.
The plan says Ukraine would have to limit its army to 600,000 troops and that it would “receive robust security guarantees,” without providing further details.
It makes several concessions to Russia, including that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian by the United States and that Ukrainian forces will withdraw from part of the Donetsk region that they control.
What is in Trump’s controversial ‘secret peace plan’ to end the Russia-Ukraine war?
The new 28-point plan would consist of “security guarantees, security in Europe, and future US relations with Russia and Ukraine”, Axios reported, citing sources.
Mr Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is said to have discussed the plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Volodymyr Zelensky’s security adviser Rustem Umerov, according to officials from Washington and Kyiv.
Revealed: The Russian commander wanted by Ukraine over Bucha massacres
Yurii Vladimirovich Kim, 28, the lieutenant platoon commander in the 76th Air Assault Division, is suspected of being criminally responsible for ordering troops to commit war crimes, including the wilful killing of civilians, during the illegal occupation of Bucha between 7 March and 1 April 2022 in the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Kim is suspected to be responsible for 17 killings and four instances of ill-treatment purposely committed by forces under his command.
Putin is still pulling Trump’s puppet strings with a new Ukraine ‘peace’ plan – but they can be cut
He let the performance play out. Donald Trump would give the impression of independence from the Kremlin, threatening sanctions on Russian fuel importers and muttering insults, but, in the end, Vladimir Putin has snapped the puppet strings tight, and the US president is again dancing the Moscow jig.
It is a desperate but effective move by Moscow to dominate the terms of discussion over a war Russia cannot win.
Watch: White House expresses confidence as Ukraine peace plan advances
Zelensky ready for ‘honest’ work on US-backed plan as Europeans push back
President Volodymyr Zelensky said after talks with a top US Army official that he was ready for “honest” work with Washington on a plan to end the war in Ukraine, while European allies pushed back against punishing concessions to Russia.
Zelensky, whose office said he had received a draft of the plan, said after meeting US army secretary Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv that Ukraine and Washington would work together on elements of it.
“Our teams – Ukraine and the USA – will work on the points of the plan to end the war,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “We are ready for constructive, honest and prompt work.”
Zelensky’s office did not comment directly on the content of the 28-point plan, which has not been officially published, but said he had “outlined the fundamental principles that matter to our people.”
“In the coming days, the president of Ukraine expects to discuss with president Trump the existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points required to achieve peace,” it said.
Russia will rejoin G7 in Trump’s new peace plan
Russia will rejoin the G7 under Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine, according to a report.
Russia will also be given majority of its frozen assets and freed from Western sanctions, The Telegraph has reported.
Washington has been secretly forming a plan with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The new 28-point plan would consist of “security guarantees, security in Europe, and future US relations with Russia and Ukraine”, officials said.
It comes amid a fresh attempt by the US to force through a peace between Moscow and Kyiv after several diplomatic overtures faltered in recent months.
The Independent had reported earlier on the cash-for-land deal the US is pitching to Ukraine.
The US officials working on a new peace plan could force Ukraine to lease a part of its territory to Russia, people aware of the situation said.
The deal would ask Kyiv to cede control of the eastern Donbas region, while retaining legal ownership of the territory, officials familiar with the deal told The Telegraph.
Russia would pay an undisclosed rental fee for the region, they said. Russian will be the official state language and the Russian orthodox church would be given official status in the occupied territories.
The deal will also slash the size of Ukraine’s military in half and ban them from possessing long-range missiles, the report added.
The deployment of foreign troops will also be blocked under this deal, US military assistance will also cease and foreign diplomatic aircraft will be prevented from landing in the country.
White House confirms secret peace deal and says it’s good for both sides
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the US is working on a new peace plan aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
“Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Marco Rubio have been working on a plan quietly for about the last month,” she said in a press briefing yesterday.
“They’ve been engaging with both sides, Russia and Ukraine equally, to understand what these countries would commit to in order to see a lasting and durable peace,” Leavitt said, adding that she will not “litigate the details” of the plan.
“It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe that it should be acceptable to both sides and we’re working very hard to get it done,” the White House press secretary said.
Russian attack kills five in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia
A Russian attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia late yesterday killed five people and injured three, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Pictures posted by Fedorov online showed buildings engulfed by flames and streets strewn with rubble.
The governor had earlier issued a warning of an impending attack by Russian guided bombs.
Ukraine rejects reports of Russian forces capturing Kupiansk
The chief of Russia’s general staff told president Vladimir Putin yesterday that Russian forces had taken control of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, but Ukraine’s military denied the city had changed hands.
Ukraine also dismissed Russian statements that its forces had taken over large parts of two other towns – Pokrovsk, a logistics hub it has been pressing to capture for months, and Vovchansk, near the Russian border.
Putin had visited the command post of the Russian forces “West” grouping, where he met with chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, and top military brass, the Kremlin said earlier.
Putin had been briefed on the situation in two key cities in Ukraine’s east, Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk, as well as around Kupiansk in Kharkiv region, the Kremlin said.
“Units of the ‘West’ grouping have liberated the city of Kupiansk and are continuing to destroy Ukrainian armed forces units surrounded on the left bank of the Oskol River,” Gerasimov told Putin in a video posted on the Kremlin site.
A late-evening statement by the Ukrainian military said: “The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces hereby announces that Kupiansk is under the control of Ukraine’s defence forces.”
“Also untrue are statements suggesting that 80 per cent of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region has been captured and 70 per cent of the city of Pokrovsk,” it added.
The general staff reported heavy fighting in the Pokrovsk sector, with Russian forces launching 56 attacks.
Russian attack kills five in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, regional governor says
A Russian attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia late on Thursday killed five people and injured three, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Pictures posted by Fedorov online showed buildings engulfed by flames and streets strewn with rubble. The governor had earlier issued a warning of an impending attack by Russian guided bombs.
