WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's plan for ending the war in Ukraine would cede land to Russia and limit the size of Kyiv's military, according to a draft obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
The proposal, originating from negotiations between Washington and Moscow, appeared decidedly favorable to Russia, which started the war nearly four years ago by invading its neighbor. If past is prologue, it would seem untenable for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has opposed Trump's previous calls for territorial concessions.
A side agreement aims to satisfy Ukrainian security concerns by saying a future “significant, deliberate and sustained armed attack” by Russia would be viewed as “threatening the peace and security of the transatlantic community.” The agreement, which was detailed by a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, does not obligate the United States or European allies to intervene on Ukraine's behalf, although it says they would “determine the measures necessary to restore security.”
Trump's push to end the war could drive a wedge between himself and European leaders, who are likely to oppose any agreement that could be seen as rewarding Russian President Vladimir Putin for his aggression, leaving him emboldened rather than defeated.
For example, the proposal would not only bar Ukraine from joining NATO but would also prevent the alliance's future expansion. Such a step would be a significant victory for Moscow, which views NATO as a threat.
Putin would also gain ground he has been unable to win on the battlefield. Under the draft, Moscow would hold all the eastern Donbas region, even though approximately 14% still remains in Ukrainian hands. Ukraine's military, currently at roughly 880,000 troops, would be reduced to 600,000.
The proposal opens the door to lifting sanctions on Russia and returning it to what was formerly known as the Group of Eight, which includes many of the world’s biggest economies. Russia was suspended from the annual gathering in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea, a strategically important peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea that is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.
Proposal increases pressure on Zelenskyy
The U.S. team began drawing up the plan soon after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Rustem Umerov, a top adviser to Zelenskyy, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that Umerov agreed to the majority of the plan, after making several modifications, and then presented it to Zelenskyy.
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was also in Kyiv on Thursday and discussed the latest draft with Zelenskyy, according to a senior administration official. Zelenskyy offered a measured statement on social media about it but did not directly speak to the substance of the proposal.
“Our teams — of Ukraine and the United States — will work on the provisions of the plan to end the war. We are ready for constructive, honest and swift work,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has informed the White House he’ll leave his post in January, according to two senior administration officials.
Kellogg was initially named special envoy for Ukraine and Russia during Trump’s presidential transition. But his role shrunk as Witkoff, a real estate developer turned diplomat, emerged as the president’s chief interlocutor with Putin and his advisers.
Trump would oversee compliance with truce
Under the proposal, Russia would commit to making no future attacks, something the White House views as a concession. In addition, $100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be dedicated to rebuilding Ukraine.
However, handing over territory to Russia would be deeply unpopular in Ukraine. It also would be illegal under Ukraine’s constitution. Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out such a possibility.
Russia would also be allowed to keep half of the power generated by Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, which it captured from Ukraine early during the war.
The draft calls for a “Peace Council” that Trump will oversee. The council is an idea that Trump snatched from his lengthy peace plan aimed at bringing about a permanent end to war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
If either Ukraine or Russia violated the truce once enacted, it would face sanctions.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., an Air Force veteran, rejected the emerging plan. “Unacceptable,” he posted on social media. “It is a 1938 Munich,” referring to a diplomatic agreement aimed at securing peace with Nazi Germany but widely viewed as paving the way for World War II.
European diplomats urge wider consultations
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Witkoff have been quietly working on the peace plan for a month, receiving input from both Ukrainians and Russians on terms that are acceptable to each side, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, a close adviser to Putin, have been key to drafting the proposal.
As reports about the draft emerged, blindsided European diplomats insisted they and Ukraine must be consulted.
European leaders have already been alarmed this year by indications that Trump’s administration might be sidelining them and Zelenskyy in its push to stop the fighting. Trump’s at-times conciliatory approach to Putin has fueled those concerns, but Trump adopted a tougher line last month when he announced heavy sanctions on Russia’s vital oil sector that come into force Friday.
“For any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of a meeting in Brussels of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers. She also suggested that the draft would be too favorable toward Moscow.
“We haven’t heard of any concessions on the Russian side," Kallas said.
German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul said he talked by phone Thursday with Witkoff and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss “our various current efforts to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and thus finally put an end to the immeasurable human suffering.”
Ukraine’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn told the U.N. Security Council that Kyiv has officially received Trump’s draft peace plan and is ready “to work constructively,” but she stressed Ukraine’s “red lines.”
“There will never be any recognition, formal or otherwise, of Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation as Russian,” she said. “Our land is not for sale.”
“Ukraine will not accept any limits on its right to self-defense or on the size and capabilities of our armed forces, nor will we tolerate any infringement on our sovereignty, including our sovereign right to choose the alliances we want to join,” Hayovyshyn added.
Trump has long pushed for end to war
It was not clear whether European foreign ministers had seen the peace plan, which was first reported by Axios.
Although they appeared caught by surprise, some elements of the plan were not new. Trump said last month that the Donbas region should be “cut up,” leaving most of it in Russian hands.
However, the administration's previous diplomatic efforts this year to stop the fighting have so far come to nothing. A summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska did not result in a breakthrough over the summer, and plans for them to meet again in Budapest, Hungary, did not come to fruition.
Trump frequently complained that the negotiations involving Ukraine were taking longer than other conflicts where he helped mediate.
“I thought that was going to be my easy one because I have a good relationship with President Putin,” he said this week. “But I’m a little disappointed in President Putin right now.”
___
Novikov reported from Kyiv. Associated Press journalists Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Sam McNeil in Brussels, Samya Kullab in Kyiv and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
