Zelensky reportedly ‘not interested’ in discussing new US peace plan for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “not interested” in discussing the new peace plan for Ukraine drafted by Washington and Russian officials, which may have led to the the collapse of scheduled talks with American special envoy Steve Witkoff in Türkiye on Wednesday, independent news portal Axios has reported.

The plan, which has not yet officially been disclosed and was put together without consultation with Kyiv, is said to involve major Ukrainian territorial and military concessions to Moscow, most significantly relinquishing Donbas and Crimea to Russia and halving the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Axios continued. 

Its chief architects are understood to be Witkoff as well as Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who The Guardian said had established “an important but unofficial backchannel between Moscow and Washington”. 

Citing an unnamed Ukrainian official, Axios said Zelensky sent his national security adviser Rustem Umerov to be briefed about the US plan last weekend, but said that Umerov did not receive a written proposal from Witkoff and made it clear that Ukraine objected to “many of the points”.

Witkoff planned to visit Ankara on Wednesday to meet with Zelensky and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, a US official told Axios, but the meeting was cancelled after it became clear that Zelensky would not discuss the US plan.

A Ukrainian official, meanwhile, told the outlet that Zelensky asked to discuss the plan “in a broader format” with European countries, while a US source said Zelensky “can come to Washington to discuss the new US plan if he wants to”.

Said to comprise 28 points, and modelled on US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, the measures would also severely constrict Ukraine’s ability to maintain an independent defence strategy. Foreign troops on Ukrainian territory would not be permitted, US military aid would be significantly reduced and Kyiv would also be forced to give up a number of strategic weapons that have allowed it to strike deep inside Russia, Axios wrote.

In return, Ukraine and Europe will receive unspecified security guarantees against any future Russian aggression, Reuters reported. 

US officials told NBC News on Wednesday that the plan had President Trump’s support, with one senior administration figure stating that “the plan focuses on giving both sides security guarantees to secure a lasting peace”. 

The move comes at something of a transitional point in US-Ukrainian relations, with Washington’s special envoy to Kyiv, Keith Kellogg, set to resign in January. Widely viewed as an influential pro-Ukrainian voice in an unpredictable White House, his departure will be a blow to Kyiv at this critical juncture, according to Reuters.  

Response from Europe has been lukewarm, with the BBC reporting that the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had urged Ukrainian and European involvement in any deal, while French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot maintained that “the Ukrainians do not want any form of capitulation”.