Zelenskyy receives US plan to end war in Ukraine, expects talks with Trump

Kyiv: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has received a draft of a US plan to end the war in Ukraine and expects to hold talks with US President Donald Trump in coming days, the Ukrainian leader's office said on Thursday.

Two sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Washington had signalled to Zelenskyy that Kyiv must accept the US-drafted framework to end the nearly-four-year-old war, which includes territorial concessions and curbs on Ukraine's armed forces.

European countries are pushing back against the plan, which sources said would require Kyiv to give up more land and partially disarm, conditions long seen by Ukraine's allies as tantamount to capitulation.

Zelenskyy's office did not comment directly on the content of the plan, which has not been published, but said the Ukrainian leader had "outlined the fundamental principles that matter to our people".

"We are ready now, as before, to work constructively with the American side, as well as with our partners in Europe and around the world, so that the outcome is peace," it said in a statement.

"In the coming days, the President of Ukraine expects to discuss with President Trump the existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points required to achieve peace."

Trump and Zelenskyy clashed in front of television cameras in a disastrous meeting for the Ukrainian leader at the White House in March, but talks went more smoothly when he visited the White House this summer.

Video shows Russian soldiers in Pokrovsk

The acceleration in US diplomacy comes at an awkward time for Kyiv, with its troops on the back foot on the battlefield and Zelenskyy's government undermined by a corruption scandal. Parliament fired two cabinet ministers on Wednesday.

Moscow played down any new US initiative.

"Consultations are not currently under way. There are contacts, of course, but there is no process that could be called consultations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He said Russia had nothing to add beyond the position President Vladimir Putin laid out at a summit with US President Donald Trump in August, adding that any peace deal must address the "root causes of the conflict", a phrase Moscow has long used to refer to its demands.

With another winter approaching in the nearly four-year-old war, Russian troops occupy almost one-fifth of Ukraine and are poised to capture their first substantial city in nearly two years - the ruined eastern railway hub of Pokrovsk.

Video released by Russia's defence ministry on Thursday showed its troops moving freely through the southern part of Pokrovsk, patrolling deserted streets lined with charred apartment blocks.

'Peace cannot be capitulation,' says France

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels did not comment in detail about the US plan, but indicated they would not accept demands for Kyiv to make punishing concessions.

"Ukrainians want peace - a just peace that respects everyone's sovereignty, a durable peace that can't be called into question by future aggression," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. "But peace cannot be a capitulation."

The White House has not commented on the reported proposals. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that Washington would "continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict".

"Achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions," Rubio said.

A US Army delegation, led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and the Army's Chief of Staff Randy George, was in Kyiv and expected to meet Zelenskyy.

They met Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, late on Wednesday. Syrskyi said the best way to secure a just peace was to defend Ukraine's airspace, extend its ability to strike deep into Russia and stabilise the front line.

Russian hits energy facilities as winter sets in

Russia has been pounding Ukrainian cities and infrastructure with nightly bombardments, killing civilians and causing power cuts as winter sets in. Authorities said 22 people were missing and 26 dead from airstrikes that destroyed an apartment block on Wednesday, one of the worst attacks in months.

Another Russian attack knocked out power for 400,000 Ukrainians. Ukraine said it had struck two Russian oil refineries.

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, occupies almost a fifth of Ukraine and says it will fight on unless Ukraine cedes additional land, accepts permanent neutrality and cuts its armed forces. Ukraine says that would amount to capitulation and leave it unprotected should Russia attack again.

Trump, who returned to office this year vowing to swiftly end the war, has reoriented US policy away from staunchly supporting Ukraine towards accepting some of Moscow's justifications for its invasion.

But he has also shown impatience with Moscow, cancelling a summit with Putin last month and imposing sanctions on Russia's two main oil companies. Friday is the deadline for foreign buyers to wind down Russian oil purchases.