U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hand with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to barter for an finish to the battle in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Ukraine may face some powerful selections amid stories that the U.S. and Russia have secretly formulated a peace plan to finish the battle, probably together with vital concessions to Moscow.
Senior U.S. army officers are in Ukraine on Thursday “on a reality discovering mission to satisfy with Ukrainian officers and talk about efforts to finish the battle” with Russia, a U.S. military spokesman stated.
The go to comes a day after media stories steered Washington and Moscow had held secret talks and devised a brand new 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, with out Kyiv’s involvement.
The 28-point plan — first reported by Axios however adopted by different media, together with the Monetary Instances and Reuters, citing unnamed sources — allegedly accommodates proposals for Ukraine to concede territory in its jap Donbas area to Russia, abandon sure classes of weaponry and cut back the dimensions of its armed forces by 50%, amongst different situations.
One report in The Telegraph newspaper steered that Russia may take management of the Donbas area regardless of Ukraine sustaining authorized possession, with Moscow basically paying hire for the land. CNBC was unable to substantiate the knowledge contained inside the media stories.
A senior Ukrainian official informed Reuters that Kyiv had obtained “alerts” a few set of U.S. proposals to finish the battle, however that Kyiv had had no position in making ready the proposals, the unnamed supply stated.
The Kremlin on Wednesday denied that there had been any “improvements on attainable peace proposals” since Russian President Vladimir Putin had met U.S. President Donald Trump in August. When requested particularly concerning the Axios report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated there was nothing he may share publicly.
In the meantime, the White Home has not explicitly confirmed the existence of the 28-point peace plan, reportedly modeled on the Gaza peace settlement, however U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that new proposals had been within the works.
“Ending a posh and lethal battle such because the one in Ukraine requires an in depth trade of significant and real looking concepts,” Rubio posted on X in a single day Wednesday.
“Attaining a sturdy peace would require either side to conform to tough however essential concessions. That’s the reason we’re and can proceed to develop a listing of potential concepts for ending this battle based mostly on enter from either side of this battle,” he stated.
Ukraine in a nook?
Ukraine management has not publicly commented on the 28-point plan, however peace proposals are anticipated to type a part of Thursday’s talks between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the U.S. delegation of army officers.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy commented that “solely President Trump and the USA have enough energy to make this battle come to an finish.”
He stated Kyiv had “supported each decisive step and the management of [President Trump], each sturdy and honest proposal geared toward ending this battle,” and added that Ukraine was “able to work in every other significant codecs that might yield outcomes.”
Ukraine’s First Deputy Overseas Minister Serhii Kyslytsia addressed stories of the peace plan head-on, nevertheless, suggesting in a publish on X that Moscow was behind a push to hype up “a manufacturing unit of unrealistic plans.”
Whether or not Ukraine would settle for such concessions to finish the battle is extremely unsure, with pushback possible.
Nonetheless, Kyiv finds itself in a weak place given its reliance on the U.S. for army help, and though it nonetheless has staunch assist from its European allies, army and monetary help are slower to materialize now than within the early days of the battle.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures throughout a gathering with U.S. President Donald Trump on the Oval Workplace of the White Home, amid negotiations to finish the Russian battle in Ukraine, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Nonetheless, European diplomats seem sad on the stories of a peace plan missing Ukrainian or regional involvement, with the EU’s overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas commenting Thursday that “for any plan to work, it must have Ukrainians and Europeans on board.”
“On this battle, there may be one aggressor and one sufferer. To date, we have not heard of any concessions from Russia’s aspect,” she informed reporters.
Analysts on the Institute for the Examine of Struggle stated that if the stories are true, the 28-peace plan would quantity to “Ukraine’s full capitulation and would set situations for renewed Russian aggression in opposition to Ukraine.”
“The reported proposed peace plan would deprive Ukraine of important defensive positions and capabilities essential to defend in opposition to future Russian aggression, apparently in trade for nothing,” the ISW analysts stated Wednesday.
They famous it will “give this vital land to Russia — apparently for no specified compromise — sparing Russia the time, effort, and manpower that it may use elsewhere in Ukraine throughout renewed aggression.”
The ISW concluded that the plan, if verified, confirmed Russia’s maximalist territorial calls for on Ukraine had basically not modified for the reason that preliminary invasion in 2022. “This reported peace plan is basically the identical as Russia’s 2022 Istanbul calls for, which Russia introduced to Ukraine when the circumstances on the battlefield appeared to favor Russia extra closely.”
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