According to his office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has officially received a plan drawn up in the USA for a peace solution to the war with Russia. He met with a US delegation in Kiev, the White House confirmed.
“As a result of today’s meeting, we agreed to work on the points of the plan in such a way that it would lead to a dignified end to the war,” the Ukrainian presidential office said on Telegram. Ukraine has been striving for peace since the beginning of the war and will support any proposal that brings “real peace” closer.
Zelensky wants to speak to Trump on the phone soon
Since the beginning of the year, Kyiv has supported US President Donald Trump’s proposals. “We are now ready to work constructively with the American side and our partners in Europe and the world so that peace can be achieved as a result,” it said. Zelensky also hopes to have a conversation with Trump soon to discuss the main points. Details of the plan were not disclosed.
The day before, it was announced in the media in the USA and Great Britain that Washington had drawn up a supposedly 28-point plan to end the Russian-Ukrainian war that has been ongoing since February 2022. In terms of content, this should be based primarily on Russian positions. A rejection by Kyiv is therefore considered likely.
US government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff had been working on a plan for weeks. They entered into an exchange with Russia and Ukraine in order to understand what each country was prepared to do in order to achieve lasting peace. The spokeswoman did not provide any details about the plan. It is still being developed, she said. Leavitt emphasized that the plan is good for both sides, “and we believe it should be acceptable to both sides.”
EU demands participation in negotiations
Following media reports on the plan, the EU demanded participation in negotiations. “For any plan to work, it needs Ukraine and the Europeans on board,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Brussels. Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) also called for the EU and Ukraine to be included. US Secretary of State Rubio had previously stated that a “list of possible ideas” was being worked on.
Rubio called on both warring parties to make concessions in order to find a solution to the conflict. “Ending a complex and deadly war like the one in Ukraine requires a comprehensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote on his personal X account.
A lasting peace requires both sides – Russia and Ukraine – to “agree to difficult but necessary concessions,” Rubio wrote in the post, which he did not publish on the government’s official accounts. “That is why we are currently compiling a list of possible ideas for ending this war, based on input from both parties to the conflict, and will continue to develop this list.”
Criticism of Russian maximum demands
There was criticism of individual points of the alleged plan, parts of which have so far only been reported by the media. There is criticism of the dominance of the previous Russian maximum demands.
Chancellor Thorsten Frei (CDU) warned that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin “could achieve war goals that he did not achieve on the battlefield.” “And that would certainly be a result that would not be acceptable,” said Frei on the RTL/ntv program “ Frühstart .”
According to media reports, Ukraine is to cede areas to Russia – in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – which Moscow does not yet completely control militarily. The Ukrainian government had so far categorically rejected this. The EU also repeatedly points out that it will not accept any violent shifting of borders. According to reports on the alleged peace plan, Ukraine will receive security guarantees in return – to protect against future Russian aggression.
Wadephul: Ukraine must maintain sovereignty
“We all see that Russia is arming itself to such an extent that we in Europe have to rightly ask ourselves the question of why this is happening,” said Foreign Minister Wadephul in Brussels before the meeting of EU foreign ministers. “It must be clear that Ukraine can maintain its sovereignty, whatever the territorial extent.”
The British government said that only Ukraine itself could decide its future. At the same time, London shares US President Trump’s desire to end “the barbaric war,” said a government spokesman. In the meantime, Great Britain is also supporting Ukraine militarily.
Ukraine feels under pressure
Trump had repeatedly called on Russia and Ukraine to end hostilities and also criticized both warring parties. Now the Ukrainian president is once again under pressure – not only because of the advance of Russian troops in the east of the country, but also because of a corruption scandal that extends into the government of the country aspiring to join the EU.
The US representatives would put pressure on Zelensky to agree to the peace plan drawn up by the US and Russia, the news portal “RBK-Ukraina” reported, citing an unnamed source. It is also planned that Ukraine will forego joining NATO, accept an amnesty for war criminals and Russia’s return to the global economy. Ukraine’s current goal, on the other hand, is not only to apply military pressure through Western arms support, but also to put Russia under increasing pressure with sanctions so that it is no longer economically able to continue the war in the future.
Kremlin: No Russian-American consultations
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the reports on Thursday, as he had the day before, that there was nothing new. Russia is therefore sticking to its previous demands, which Putin also outlined at the meeting with Trump in August in Anchorage, Alaska. According to the Interfax news agency, Peskov said that there are still contacts between Moscow and Washington, but there are currently no Russian-American consultations on Ukraine. Russia has long welcomed Trump’s commitment to ending the war in Ukraine.
