Ukraine told to accept US peace plan ceding land to Russia, sources say

London/Kyiv: The US has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine must accept an American-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv give up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said.

The sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the proposals included cutting the size of Ukraine’s armed forces, among other things. Washington wants Kyiv to accept the main points, they said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is reportedly displeased by the proposal.Credit: AP

Such a plan would represent a major setback for Kyiv as it faces further Russian territorial gains in eastern Ukraine, and with Zelensky tackling a corruption scandal, which on Wednesday saw parliament dismiss the energy and justice ministers.

London’s Telegraph reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration has been working with Moscow on a secret 28-point proposal inspired by the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Under the deal, Ukraine would give up control of the eastern Donbas region but retain legal ownership. Russia would pay an undisclosed “rental fee” for the region, the Telegraph reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.

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Axios reported that in return, Ukraine would get a US security guarantee for Kyiv and Europe against future Russian aggression, citing a US official with direct knowledge of the matter.

The 28-point plan was thrashed out between the US and Russia in a recent flurry of secretive talks between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and key Putin advisor Kirill Dmitriev, renewing fears that Ukraine is being frozen out of discussions about its future.

The White House declined to comment on the matter, while the US State Department had no immediate comment.

A senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Kyiv had received “signals” about a set of proposals that Washington has discussed with Russia. Ukraine has had no role in preparing the proposals, the source said.

Zelensky, who was holding talks in Turkey on Wednesday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is due to meet US military officials in Kyiv on Thursday. Zelensky said on Tuesday he was preparing to “reinvigorate negotiations” and discuss with Erdogan how to bring a “just peace” to Ukraine.

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Witkoff was also expected to speak with Zelensky in Turkey, but the meeting was postponed. According to the Telegraph, the Ukrainian president was displeased by the latest proposal after it was briefed to his officials.

Ukraine giving up land has been a long-held demand of Putin since he met Trump in Alaska for peace talks in August, but Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out surrendering the entire Donbas. Russia has captured more than 80 per cent of the region since its 2022 full-scale invasion, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

No face-to-face talks have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since a meeting in Istanbul in July, and Russian forces have pressed on with Moscow’s nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine.

While efforts to revive peace negotiations appear to be gaining momentum, Moscow has shown no sign of changing its basic terms, which also include Kyiv renouncing plans to join NATO.

The Kremlin said Russian representatives would not be involved in the Ankara talks, but that Putin was open to conversations with the US and Turkey about the results of the discussions.

The latest deal has been thrashed out by Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev (left) and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, seen together here in St Petersburg in April.Credit: AP

A European diplomat, commenting on the purported new US proposals, said they could be another attempt by the Trump administration “to push Kyiv into a corner”, but added there could be no solution that did not consider Ukraine’s position or that of Washington’s European allies.

Another European diplomat said the suggestion that Ukraine cut its army seemed like a Russian demand rather than a serious proposal.

Meanwhile, a Russian drone and missile barrage on Ukraine’s western city of Ternopil killed at least 25 people, including three children, authorities said on Wednesday, Ukraine time.

The nighttime attack hit two nine-storey apartment blocks in Ternopil, about 200 kilometres from the Polish border, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. At least 73 people, including 15 children, were injured, emergency services said.

At least 19 among those killed were burned alive, including three children aged 5, 7 and 16, Klymenko said. Two dozen people are still unaccounted for, he said on national television, and rescuers expect to work at least two more days to complete a search of the rubble.

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike on Ternopil, Ukraine.Credit: AP

Russia fired 476 strike and decoy drones, as well as 48 missiles of various types, at Ukrainian targets overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. The bombardment included 47 cruise missiles, with air defences intercepting all but six of them, the air force said. Western-supplied F-16 and Mirage-2000 jets intercepted at least 10 cruise missiles, it said.

“Every brazen attack against ordinary life indicates that the pressure on Russia [to stop the war] is insufficient,” Zelensky wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that it had attacked Ukrainian energy facilities and military-industrial targets, including long-range drone depots, in retaliation against strikes by Kyiv on Russian territory.

It said that Ukraine fired four American-supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian city of Voronezh on Tuesday. All four were shot down, the ministry said, but the debris damaged some buildings. There were no casualties, the ministry said.

Romania scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoon jets and two F-16s when a drone entered the NATO member’s airspace during Wednesday’s Russian attacks on western Ukraine, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said.

The Polish military also said that Polish and allied aircraft were deployed in the middle of the night as a preventive measure. Poland’s Rzeszów and Lublin airports were closed temporarily to prioritise military aviation, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency said.

In another development, Britain warned Russia on Wednesday that it was ready to deal with any incursion into its territory after the spy ship Yantar was detected on the edge of UK waters north of Scotland.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the Russian vessel had directed lasers at pilots of surveillance aircraft monitoring its activities.

“My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing. And if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready,” Healey said during a speech in London.

The Russian embassy, in a statement, accused the British government of being “Russophobic” and “whipping up militaristic hysteria”, adding that Moscow has no interest in undermining the UK’s security.

Reuters, AP

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