A draft proposal to end the war in Ukraine advanced by the Trump administration has drew swift resistance from Ukraine and several of its European allies on Thursday.
The plan, developed by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and shared privately with Ukrainian officials in recent days, reportedly includes provisions that would significantly downsize its military, forgo certain long-range weapons, accept Russian control over occupied territory and require Ukraine to withdraw from the roughly 14% the Donbas region that is not under Russian control. That region would reportedly become a demilitarized zone under the plan.
“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X on Wednesday. “And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed receipt of the draft on Thursday, writing on Telegram that his country has “been striving for peace since the first seconds of the Russian invasion” and would “support all meaningful proposals that can bring real peace closer.”
Zelenskyy said that he expects to discuss the plan with President Donald Trump in the coming days.
But other Ukrainian officials have dismissed its core elements, calling it “absurd” and saying it amounted to “unconditional capitulation.”
Ukrainian MP Iryna Gerashchenko said the proposal “duplicates Russia’s 2022 demands for capitulation” and suggested it was meant to probe Kyiv’s willingness to concede ground, according to the Washington Post.
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European leaders delivered similar messages. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that “peace cannot be capitulation. We do not want the capitulation of Ukraine.” Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said Europe “is the main supporter of Ukraine,” noting that none of the region’s governments had been involved in drafting the proposal.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s foreign ministers would review the emerging details but stressed that any viable plan would require both Ukrainian and European backing. She noted there had been no “concession from the Russian side” so far in the war.
The renewed diplomatic activity comes as the war enters its fourth year, Russian attacks continue across the front, and Zelensky faces political pressures at home, relating to a corruption probe involving several members of his inner circle.
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