Moscow and Washington have reportedly devised a secret plan to end the fighting in Eastern Europe.
A 28-point plan, first reported by Axios on November 18 and citing unnamed sources, allegedly includes provisions for Ukraine to concede territory in its eastern Donbas region to Russia. The plan also imposes a ban on Ukraine holding certain categories of weaponry and a directive for the country to reduce its armed forces by 50%.
The Telegraph newspapers also claimed that Russia could take control of the Donbas region while Ukraine continues to maintain legal ownership, with Moscow effectively renting the land.
Speaking to Reuters, a senior Ukrainian official said that Kyiv had received “signals” about a set of potential proposals to end the fighting, but was not involved in any negotiation.
On Wednesday, Moscow denied that there had been any progress on any potential peace proposals since President Donald Trump met with President Vladimir Putin in August.
For their part, the White House has yet to explicitly verify the authenticity of the claims around the detailed peace plan. Still, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio did confirm that proposals were in the works.
“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas. And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions,” Rubio posted on X on the evening of November 19. “That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.”
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “only President Trump and the United States have sufficient power to make this war come to an end,” per CNBC. Zelensky said that Kyiv had “supported every decisive step and the leadership of [President Trump], every strong and fair proposal aimed at ending this war,” and that Ukraine was “ready to work in any other meaningful formats that could yield results.”
