Tensions in Ukraine amid reports that Russia and U.S. have peace plan
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin as they meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, August 15, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Ukraine may face some difficult choices, possibly including making significant concessions to Moscow, amid reports that the United States and Russia are secretly formulating a peace plan to end the war.
A U.S. military spokesman said senior U.S. military officials were in Ukraine on Thursday “on a fact-finding mission to meet with Ukrainian officials and discuss efforts to end the war with Russia.”
The visit came a day after media reports suggested that Washington and Moscow had held secret talks for Ukraine without Kiev’s participation and had drafted a new 28-point peace plan for Ukraine.
28-item plan — first reported by Axios but other media also follow Financial Times And ReutersCiting unnamed sources, it allegedly includes proposals for Ukraine to cede territory in the eastern Donbas region to Russia, abandon certain categories of weapons and reduce the size of its armed forces by 50%, among other conditions.
a report Telegraph newspaper He suggested that Russia could take control of the Donbas region, even though Ukraine retained legal ownership of it, with Moscow essentially paying rent for the land. CNBC was unable to verify the information contained in the media reports.
A senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Kiev had received “signals” about a series of US proposals to end the war, but the unnamed source said Kiev had no role in preparing the proposals.
The Kremlin on Wednesday denied claims that there was “any innovation on possible peace proposals” after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Donald Trump in August. When asked specifically about the Axios report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had nothing he could share with the public.
Meanwhile, the White House has not publicly confirmed the existence of the 28-point peace plan, which is reportedly modeled on the Gaza peace agreement, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed that new proposals are on the way.
“Ending a complex and deadly war like the one in Ukraine requires broad sharing of serious, realistic ideas,” Rubio posted on X on Wednesday.
“Achieving a lasting peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions. That is why, based on input from both sides of this conflict, we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas to end this war,” he said.
Is Ukraine around the corner?
The Ukrainian administration has not commented publicly on the 28-point plan, but the peace proposals are expected to be part of talks between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a delegation of US military officials on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy commented, “Only President Trump and the United States have enough power to end this war.”
He said Kiev “supports every decisive step and his leadership.” [President Trump]“Every strong and fair proposal is aimed at ending this war,” he said, adding that Ukraine “is ready to work in other meaningful formats that can yield results.”
However, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhii Kyslytsia directly addressed the reports on the peace plan. Making a suggestion on a post on X Moscow was said to be behind the effort to exaggerate “a factory of unrealistic plans”.
Whether Ukraine will accept such concessions to end the war is highly uncertain and likely to be pushed back.
But Kiev finds itself in a vulnerable position given its reliance on the United States for military aid, and although it still enjoys solid support from its European allies, the rollout of military and financial aid is now slower than in the early days of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump during negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, August 18, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Yet European diplomats appear unhappy with reports that the peace plan lacks Ukrainian or regional participation, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas commenting on Thursday: “For any plan to work, Ukrainians and Europeans need to be on board.”
“There is an aggressor and a victim in this war. So far we have not heard any concessions from Russia’s side,” he told reporters.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said that if the reports are true, the 28 peace plan “would mean the complete surrender of Ukraine and set the conditions for renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
“The reported proposed peace plan would deprive Ukraine of critical defensive positions and capabilities needed to defend against future Russian aggression, in exchange for seemingly nothing,” ISW analysts said in a statement on Wednesday. he said.
They stated that “by giving these important territories to Russia – apparently without any concessions – it would save time, effort and manpower that it could use elsewhere in Ukraine during renewed aggression.”
ISW concluded that the plan, if confirmed, would indicate that Russia’s maximalist territorial claims to Ukraine remain essentially unchanged since the first invasion in 2022. “This reported peace plan is essentially identical to the 2022 Istanbul demands that Russia presented to Ukraine when conditions on the battlefield appeared more favorable to Russia.”
