Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially received a draft peace proposal from the United States aimed at reviving stalled negotiations to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, his office confirmed on Thursday. The 28-point plan, developed in secret consultations between Washington and Moscow without Kyiv’s direct involvement, has sparked intense controversy due to its reported demands for major Ukrainian concessions, including territorial losses and sharp reductions in military capacity. While Zelenskyy signaled willingness to engage constructively with President Donald Trump, European leaders and many Ukrainian officials have rejected the framework as unacceptable and tantamount to capitulation.
In a statement posted to Telegram, Ukraine’s Presidential Office announced: “The President of Ukraine officially received a draft plan from the American side, which, according to the American side, can intensify diplomacy.” During an earlier meeting on Thursday, Zelenskyy laid out Kyiv’s non-negotiable principles—foremost among them full respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and credible security guarantees—and agreed to work on refining certain points of the proposal. The office emphasized that Ukraine has supported President Trump’s efforts to end the war since the beginning of the year and remains ready to cooperate promptly and honestly with Washington, European partners, and the wider international community.
Zelenskyy is expected to speak directly with Trump “in the coming days” to discuss available diplomatic paths and the core elements required for a just and lasting peace.
The announcement followed by roughly an hour reports from Ukrainian media, including public broadcaster Suspilne, that Zelenskyy had met in Kyiv with a high-level U.S. military delegation led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff General Randy George—the most senior U.S. military visit to Ukraine since Trump took office. Driscoll arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday, held talks with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and met Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal before the one-on-one session with Zelenskyy. The president later confirmed the meeting on X, describing the current pace of diplomatic activity as “remarkable.”
The Presidential Office statement came two days after Axios revealed that the Trump administration, working closely with Moscow, had quietly drafted a detailed 28-point framework to end the conflict. Although the full text remains classified, leaks reported by the Financial Times, Reuters, and other outlets indicate the plan includes demands that Ukraine permanently cede the remainder of Donbas (including areas still under Kyiv’s control), halve the size of its armed forces, forgo long-range strike capabilities, recognize Russian as an official language, and grant special status to the Russian Orthodox Church. In exchange, Russia would reportedly freeze its advances, provide vague security assurances, and possibly pay “rent” for continued use of occupied territories.
A senior U.S. official confirmed that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff spent the past month drafting the proposal, incorporating input from both Russian and Ukrainian sides while briefing European allies only after the fact.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked about the reports, declined to add anything beyond what was discussed during the August summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Peskov acknowledged that U.S.–Russian contacts continue at a working level but insisted no comprehensive negotiation process on Ukraine is currently underway.
European reaction has been sharply critical. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated that any viable peace plan must place pressure on the aggressor, not the victim, and warned against deals that require concessions only from Ukraine. Several European leaders and lawmakers have expressed alarm that the proposal was developed largely without their input and risks undermining the continent’s security architecture.
Inside Ukraine, officials who have seen the document privately described it as heavily tilted toward Moscow and a “non-starter.” President Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that ceding territory is unacceptable and would only invite further Russian aggression. Public opinion remains overwhelmingly opposed to territorial concessions, with recent polls showing more than 80 percent of Ukrainians rejecting any deal that formally recognizes Russian control over occupied regions.
The White House has defended the initiative as a pragmatic attempt to end a war that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions. Administration officials argue that both sides will need to make difficult compromises for a durable peace, and point to recent U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies as evidence of continued leverage over Moscow.
As winter approaches and Russian missile and drone attacks intensify—most recently a deadly strike on Ternopil that killed 28 civilians—pressure is mounting on Kyiv to find a way out of the conflict. Battlefield momentum remains slow but favors Russia in several sectors, particularly around Pokrovsk, while Ukraine faces growing challenges with manpower, ammunition, and energy infrastructure.
Whether the new U.S. draft represents a genuine path to peace or an ultimatum that Kyiv cannot accept will likely become clear in the coming days, when Zelenskyy and Trump are expected to speak directly. For now, the proposal has exposed deep divisions among Ukraine’s Western backers and reignited debate over how—and at what cost—the bloodiest European conflict since World War II might finally be brought to an end.
