Ukraine prepares new peace plan as Zelensky rules out giving up land

Ukraine is preparing to submit its revised peace plan to the White House as it seeks to avoid making territorial concessions to Russia.

Kiev is ready to propose alternatives to the US after President Volodymyr Zelensky again refused to surrender territory, saying he had “no right” to do so under Ukrainian or international law.

He made the comments as he met with European and NATO leaders on Monday; this was part of a collective effort to dissuade the United States from supporting a peace deal that included major concessions to Ukraine and that allies feared would leave Ukraine vulnerable to a future invasion.

Meanwhile, the city of Sumy in northwestern Ukraine was left without electricity overnight after a Russian drone attack.

More than a dozen drones hit electrical infrastructure, the regional governor said, the latest in a series of Russian nighttime attacks. No deaths were reported.

Zelensky’s Continuing diplomatic tour in Europe This development comes after days of intense talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over the weekend that failed to reach a deal acceptable to Kiev.

Zelensky was to be briefed about this particular summit on Monday by his top aide Rustem Umerov, who wrote on Telegram that he would convey details of direct talks between the United States and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s president told a news conference that his team could send a new proposal to the Americans on Tuesday, AFP news agency reported.

Regarding the surrender of territory, Zelensky said: “Russia insists that we give up the territory, but we do not want to give up anything.”

He continued: “We have no legal right to do this according to Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. We also have no moral right.”

Zelensky has long argued that any changes to Ukraine’s borders must be approved by popular referendum.

Elsewhere, he told reporters that the initial 28-point plan, proposed by the United States and rejected by Kiev and European leaders as too favorable to Russia, had been reduced to 20 points, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

He said no “pro-Ukrainian” points were removed from the draft, but no “consensus” was reached on the land issue either.

Zelensky stated that control of the eastern Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are among the “most sensitive” issues.

The original leaked version of the US-backed plan called for Ukraine to hand over full control of Donbas to Russia, even though Kremlin forces have not been able to fully capture the region after almost four years of war.

In the draft plan, it was stated that the energy produced in Zaporizhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, will be shared between Russia and Ukraine.

Leaders in Kiev and across Europe have noted progress in improving that draft in recent weeks and praised the Trump administration for its effort to broker an end to the conflict.

But Monday’s hastily organized Downing Street summit, attended by Zelensky, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, was seen as a show of support for Ukraine, which is trying to resist White House pressure.

Number 10 said it was agreed that the US-led talks represented a “critical moment” to increase support for Ukraine and reiterated his call for “a just and lasting peace… with strong security guarantees”.

The nature of future security guarantees is another open question in the negotiations.

Efforts are ongoing to form an international coalition ready to offer continued military support to Kiev in the event of a peace agreement, but it is not yet clear what form this will take.

While England and France have offered to station international troops in Ukraine, many key defenders in Europe, including Germany and Italy, have been skeptical of the idea.

It is also unclear to what extent the United States would be willing to support any future defense arrangements against Ukraine.

After the talks in London, Zelensky flew to Brussels to meet NATO chief Mark Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, and will meet Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in Italy on Tuesday.

Moscow also claimed that talks with the White House were constructive; but although there has been little public indication, the Kremlin appeared to be acting on any of the goals it laid out when it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

On Sunday, Trump stated that he viewed Zelensky as the main obstacle to securing a peace agreement; It was a goal he made a major foreign policy goal and one that the president claimed he could quickly achieve during the 2024 presidential campaign.

He told reporters that Russia was pleased with the peace plan presented to both sides by the United States but was “a little disappointed that President Zelensky did not read it.” It was unclear whether this was the case.