Ukraine would give up the eastern Donbas regions and accept that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk are treated as de facto Russian, including by the United States, under the 28-point proposal obtained by AFP and backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the draft.
The plan says areas in Donetsk from which Ukrainian forces withdraw would become a demilitarized zone that Russian forces would not enter.
The southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which Russia claims to have annexed, would be “frozen along the line of contact.”
Zaporizhzhia’s Russian-occupied nuclear power plant would be placed under International Atomic Energy Authority supervision, with electricity shared between Russia and Ukraine, the document says.
Russia’s army now holds about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, much of it badly damaged by years of fighting, particularly in the east.
The draft says “Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognized as de facto Russian, including by the United States.” Kyiv still partially controls Luhansk and Donetsk, which form the Donbas industrial belt on the front line of the war. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Ukraine has previously said it will never recognize Russian control over its land, but has acknowledged it might be forced to try to regain it through diplomatic means. The plan for Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia corresponds to demands Moscow has made earlier.
Under the proposal, Ukraine’s armed forces would be cut to 600,000 personnel. NATO would pledge not to station troops on Ukrainian territory, dashing Kyiv’s calls for a European peacekeeping force, and Ukraine would be barred from joining the alliance both by changes to its constitution and by NATO’s own statutes.
The document promises Ukraine unspecified “reliable security guarantees,” with a U.S. official saying it includes a powerful guarantee modelled on NATO rules that would commit the United States and European allies to respond to any attack on Ukraine. European warplanes would be stationed in neighboring Poland to help protect the country.
At the same time, Russia would be “reintegrated into the global economy” after nearly four years of sanctions and allowed back into the G8 group of nations. “It is expected that Russia will not invade neighboring countries and NATO will not expand further,” the draft states.
All sanctions would snap back and be supplemented by a “decisive coordinated military response” if Russia invades Ukraine again, according to the document.
The plan has prompted suggestions in Kyiv that Moscow helped shape it. “It seems that the Russians proposed this to the Americans, they accepted it,” a senior Ukrainian source told AFP.
U.S. officials strongly rejected that characterization, saying the draft was drawn up after weeks of consultations that involved Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukrainian representatives and Moscow. They described it as a “working document.”
“The president supports this plan. It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. She said Witkoff and Rubio had been “quietly” working on the proposal with both sides for about a month, and dismissed concerns it echoes many of Moscow’s maximalist demands.
Amid a spiraling corruption scandal in Ukraine that has cost two ministers their jobs, Kyiv removed language about an audit of foreign aid from the draft and replaced it with a call for a “full amnesty,” a senior U.S. official said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expected to discuss the plan with Trump “in coming days,” adding that any deal must deliver a “dignified peace” and show “respect for our independence, our sovereignty.” He also held talks in Kyiv with a Pentagon delegation led by U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.
(jh)
Source: PAP, AFP, Associated Press