Volodymyr Zelensky is set to speak with Donald Trump after the United States presented Ukraine with a draft peace plan to end its war with Russia.
The plan was reportedly drafted by U.S. envoy Steve Witkov and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev without Ukraine’s involvement.
Prime Minister Zelensky’s office said in a statement that the United States believes the draft plan “will help revitalize diplomacy” and that “Ukraine has agreed to work on the provisions of the plan in a way that will lead to a just end to the war.”
Kiev supported “all practical proposals that could bring real peace closer,” the statement said.
Ukraine has not shared details of what the proposal entails, according to sources cited by Axios, the Financial Times and Reuters. But it includes plans to give up the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which Kiev still controls, and to significantly reduce the size of its military and give up much of its weapons.
If confirmed, these demands would be heavily tilted toward Moscow’s interests. This explains Kiev’s lukewarm response to conscription.
But in a press briefing for White House reporters, press secretary Caroline Levitt dismissed suggestions that the plan would require major concessions from Ukraine.
She said Wittkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “engaging both sides equally to understand what these countries are going to commit to.”
“This is a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine,” she said, but gave no further details. “We believe this should be acceptable to both parties, and we are working very hard to achieve this.”
Moscow has downplayed the significance of the plan, which reportedly includes 28 items.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “There were ‘contacts’ with the United States, but there were no procedures that could be called ‘consultations’.”
The statement from Prime Minister Zelenskyy’s office followed a meeting in Kiev on Thursday between the Ukrainian president and senior U.S. military officials, including U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army in Europe Chris Donahue.
Despite Kiev’s lukewarm response to the conscription, Prime Minister Zelenskyy said he “appreciates the efforts of President Trump and his team to return security to Europe.” Perhaps this is a way to keep the American president in office despite his administration’s apparently soft approach toward Russia.
Neither Ukraine nor its European partners took part in drafting the new plan, and European foreign ministers on Thursday warned against presenting proposals without consulting Kiev or Brussels.
“For any plan to succeed, Ukrainians and Europeans must participate,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov warned that any peace deal must address “the root causes of the conflict.” This is a phrase used by Moscow as shorthand for a series of maximalist demands on Ukraine that are tantamount to surrender.
Ukrainian lawmaker Lisa Yasko told the BBC that Ukraine “was not consulted”.
“It feels like we want someone to make decisions for us,” she said. “And that is very painful for most of us Ukrainians.”
President Trump, who began his second term earlier this year, has launched a variety of plans to end the war in Ukraine, including a bilateral summit with Putin in Alaska, a visit to Moscow by special envoy Witkov, and meetings with Zelensky and other Western leaders.
But as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, the two sides remain deeply divided over how to end the conflict.
Ukraine has become adept at targeting Russian military infrastructure and energy facilities with long-range drones, but Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian targets continue unabated.
Earlier this week, a Russian missile and drone attack on an apartment block in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil killed at least 26 people. More than 10 people were still missing from the scene on Thursday.
