A leaked US peace plan to end the war in Ukraine has unsettled European governments by calling for Kyiv to cede the whole Donbas region to Russia and sharply reduce its armed forces. The move comes as Ukraine says it is ready to work with Washington.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for “constructive” and “honest” work with the United States on the draft plan, even as key European allies warned against any deal that demands sweeping concessions to Moscow.
His comments followed a meeting in Kyiv on Thursday with US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll after details emerged of a US-backed proposal that would require Ukraine to give up the entire Donbas region and cut its army to 600,000 troops.
The plan, a 28-point document not yet released in full, also promises as-yet-undefined “robust security guarantees”.
Major concessions
The proposal includes US recognition of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk as de facto Russian territory and calls for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from the remaining parts of Donetsk they still control.
It was reportedly drafted after discussions with Rustem Umerov, one of Zelensky’s top advisers, who “agreed to the majority of the plan” after making several changes. Umerov then presented it to the president.
Zelensky’s office said he had received the draft and that US and Ukrainian teams would now work on its elements. Writing on Telegram, the president said: “We are ready for constructive, honest and prompt work.”
While not commenting directly on the leaked content, Zelensky’s office said he had set out the “fundamental principles that matter to our people”.
It added that he expects to discuss “existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points required to achieve peace” with President Trump in the coming days.
The draft also proposes a non-aggression pact between Russia, Ukraine and Europe, a freeze on NATO expansion and a ban on stationing alliance troops in Ukraine.
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Economic reintegration
In exchange, Russia would be eased back into the global economy as sanctions are lifted “in phases and on a case-by-case basis”.
The plan also raises the possibility of inviting Moscow back into what was once the G8 and creating a broad US-Russia economic and technological partnership covering energy, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data centres and rare earth extraction in the Arctic.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff had worked on the plan for a month, which she said President Donald Trump supports.
“This plan was crafted to reflect the realities of the situation,” she said, calling it a possible “win-win scenario”.
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European resistance
In Brussels, EU foreign ministers avoided direct comment on the leak but signalled resistance to any deal based on one-sided concessions.
“Ukrainians want peace – a just peace that respects everyone’s sovereignty, a durable peace that can’t be called into question by future aggression,” France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. “But peace cannot be a capitulation.”
The diplomatic push comes as Ukrainian forces face pressure on several fronts and Zelensky’s government deals with a corruption scandal that led to the dismissal of two cabinet ministers last week.
Rubio said on X that the United States would continue developing “potential ideas” based on input from both sides and said any peace would require concessions from both Kyiv and Moscow.
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Russia plays it down
The Kremlin moved to cool speculation of movement. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were “contacts, of course, but no process that could be called consultations”, adding that Russia’s position remains what President Putin set out during his August summit with Trump.
As winter approaches and the war enters its fourth year, Russian forces hold nearly a fifth of Ukraine and continue slow advances while striking energy sites and front-line cities.
On Thursday, Moscow said Putin had visited the command post of Russia’s “West” grouping, meeting General Valery Gerasimov and other senior officers. Gerasimov claimed Russian troops had captured the city of Kupiansk.
Ukraine’s military rejected that claim and also denied that Russia controls 70 percent of Pokrovsk, a shattered railway hub in the east.
(with newswires)
