Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said he is ready for “honest work” with the United States after receiving a draft peace plan to end the war with Russia.
A number of American media reports that under this plan, Kyiv will give up the Donbass territories in eastern Ukraine that it still controls, reduce the size of its army and promise not to join NATO.
It is unclear how involved Ukraine was in the development of the plan, but White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said the United States was “cooperating equally with both sides.”
In a separate statement, Zelensky's office said Ukraine “has agreed to work on the plan's provisions in a way that ensures a just end to the war.”
According to the draft plan, published in full by the Financial Times and Axios, the size of the Ukrainian armed forces will be limited to 600 thousand people, but European fighter jets will be stationed in Poland.
It says Kyiv will receive “reliable security guarantees” but does not provide details.
The draft also says Russia will be “reintegrated into the global economy” by lifting sanctions and inviting Russia to rejoin the G7 – a forum of the world's most powerful countries – turning it back into the G8.
If fully confirmed, the plan's requirements will most likely meet Moscow's interests.
Zelensky said he expects to speak with US President Donald Trump in the coming days about the proposals, which also include plans for Ukraine to give up many of its weapons.
But at a White House briefing, Leavitt rejected suggestions that the plan would require major concessions from Ukraine and said the US president was “supportive” of it.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio worked quietly on the proposal for about a month and engaged both sides “to understand what these countries would commit to in order to see a lasting and lasting peace,” Leavitt said.
“This is a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine,” she added, without going into details. “We believe this should be acceptable to both parties. And we're working very hard to do that.”
An unnamed senior US official told CBS News that the plan “was drawn up immediately after discussions with one of the most senior members of President Zelensky's administration, Rustem Umerov, who agreed with most of the plan after making several changes and presented it to President Zelensky.”
In a statement on X, Zelensky wrote: “The American side presented the points of the plan to end the war – its vision. I have outlined our core principles. We have agreed that our teams will work on these points to ensure that all of this is genuine.”
The statement came after Zelensky met Thursday in Kyiv with senior U.S. military officials, including U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and top U.S. Army Europe commander Gen. Chris Donahue.
Despite Kyiv's lukewarm response to the project, Zelensky said he “appreciated the efforts of President Trump and his team to return security to Europe” – perhaps a way to keep the US president on the sidelines despite his administration's apparent soft approach to Russia.
In his Thursday evening address, Zelensky said Ukraine needs a “dignified peace” and that the “dignity of the Ukrainian people” must be respected.
Asked whether Europe was involved in the plan's development process, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas replied: “I don't know about that.”
“For any plan to work, Ukrainians and Europeans must participate in it,” she added.
Moscow has downplayed the significance of the plan, which is rumored to include 28 points.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that while there were “contacts” with the US, “there was no process that could be called 'consultations'.”
Peskov warned that any peace deal must be aimed at addressing the “root causes of the conflict,” a phrase Moscow has used to describe a series of maximalist demands that for Ukraine would amount to capitulation.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Ukraine's future must be determined by Ukraine and we must never lose sight of this principle, which underpins the just and lasting peace we all want to see.”
Since beginning his second term earlier this year, Trump has taken various initiatives aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, including a bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, several visits by his envoy Witkoff to Moscow, and rounds of talks 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.
Although Ukraine has learned to attack Russian military infrastructure and energy facilities using long-range drones, Moscow's attacks on Ukrainian targets continue unabated.
At least five people were killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye late Thursday, the regional governor said. Hours later, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed 33 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions.
Earlier this week, at least 26 people were killed in a Russian missile and drone attack on apartment buildings in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil. On Thursday, 17 more people were still missing from the scene, Zelensky said, expressing condolences.
