According to a new peace plan developed with the participation of special envoys from the presidents of the USA and Russia, Steven Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, the United States demands that Ukraine completely relinquish control over the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as well as reduce the size of its army by half. This is reported by the Financial Times and Axios, citing sources familiar with the initiative.
According to Axios, the plan involves the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from 14% of the territory of Donbas and the declaration of this zone as demilitarized, where neither side will be able to deploy armed forces or equipment. In return, Moscow commits to freezing the front line in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and, as sources indicate, may agree to return some territories if negotiations are successful.
Trump's project also includes the recognition of Crimea and Donbas as part of Russia by the USA and other states, while Ukraine is not required to make a similar recognition. However, it will have to establish the Russian language as the state language and lift bans on the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Additionally, Trump's plan contains restrictions on certain types of weapons for Ukrainian forces, a halt to the supply of long-range missiles from the West, and a ban on the deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory, as reported by FT.
Christopher Miller, a correspondent for FT, notes that this proposal is essentially a "capitulation of Ukraine," pointing out that it represents a list of demands put forward by the Kremlin.
American officials believe that Ukraine should agree to the loss of Donbas, as otherwise it will face even greater losses, and in their opinion, "it is more beneficial to strike a deal right now," explained one of the sources from Axios.
In Kyiv, according to FT, senior officials familiar with Trump's proposal consider it unacceptable without significant changes. American representatives have already outlined the details of this plan to Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustam Umerov.
Steven Witkoff planned to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara to discuss the American proposal; however, the Ukrainian president canceled this meeting. As an Axios source explains, Zelensky intends to discuss Trump's plan with European partners. One American official added that Zelensky brought his own plan, coordinated with the EU, to Ankara, which "Russia will never support."
