A leaked US peace proposal has unsettled Kyiv and its European partners, laying out sweeping concessions to Moscow even as Ukraine signals its readiness to engage.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is ready for “constructive” and “honest” work with Washington on a draft plan to end the war, even as key European allies have warned against any peace deal that demands sweeping concessions to Moscow.
The comments followed Zelensky’s meeting in Kyiv on Thursday with US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, after details were revealed of a US-backed proposal that would require Ukraine to cede the entire Donbas region and sharply reduce the size of its armed forces – conditions many in Europe would see as tantamount to capitulation.
The plan, a 28-point document not yet published in full, envisages Ukraine limiting its army to 600,000 troops and receiving as-yet-undefined “robust security guarantees”.
It also includes major concessions to Russia, including US recognition of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk as de facto Russian territory, and the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from parts of Donetsk they still control.
The proposal 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.
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Kyiv ready for ‘constructive’ work
Meanwhile, Zelensky’s office confirmed that he had received the draft and that US and Ukrainian teams would now work together on its elements.
Writing on Telegram, the president said: “We are ready for constructive, honest and prompt work.”
While declining to comment directly on the leaked content, Zelensky’s office said he had outlined the “fundamental principles that matter to our people”.
It added that Zelensky expects to discuss “existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points required to achieve peace” with President Trump in the coming days.
The draft plan also proposes a non-aggression pact between Russia, Ukraine and Europe, a freeze on NATO expansion and a bar on stationing alliance troops in Ukraine.
In exchange, Russia would be gradually reintegrated into the global economy as sanctions are lifted “in phases and on a case-by-case basis”.
It also floats 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 mineral extraction in the Arctic.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff had spent a month working quietly on the plan, which she said President Trump supports.
“This plan was crafted to reflect the realities of the situation,” she said, describing it as a potential “win-win scenario”.
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EU, France says 'peace cannot be capitulation’
In Brussels, EU foreign ministers avoided direct comment on the leaked US proposal but signalled their resistance to any deal that forces Ukraine into 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 at a fraught moment for Kyiv. Ukrainian forces are under pressure on multiple fronts, and Zelensky’s government has been shaken by a corruption scandal that led to the dismissal of two cabinet ministers last week.
Meanwhile, Rubio said on X that the US would continue drawing up “potential ideas” based on “input from both sides”, adding that any peace would require concessions from both Kyiv and Moscow.
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Russia plays it down
The Kremlin moved swiftly to tamp down speculation of progress. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were “contacts, of course, but no process that could be called consultations”, insisting that Russia’s position remained what President Putin laid out during his August summit with Trump.
As winter approaches and the war grinds towards its fourth year, Russian forces control nearly a fifth of Ukraine and continue advancing slowly while pounding energy infrastructure 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 – a key target in Russia’s push westward.
Ukraine’s military has rejected Russia’s claims to have seized Kupiansk or to control 70 percent of Pokrovsk, a shattered railway hub in the country's east.
(with newswires)
