Ukraine to cede land, shrink army in new US peace plan: Report

The US has drafted a new peace proposal for Russia and Ukraine, under which Kiev will reportedly have to cede land and limit the size of its military, in addition to being barred from joining NATO.

According to a draft obtained cited by news agencies, Ukraine’s military, currently at roughly 880,000 troops, would be reduced to 600,000.

Moreover, the proposal would enable Moscow to hold all of the eastern Donbas region and return to what was formerly known as the Group of Eight (G8), a forum of major industrialized nations.

Russia was suspended from the G8 in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea, a strategically important peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Following the suspension, the G8 reverted to the G7.

Russia would also be allowed to keep half of the power generated by Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia.

The US began drawing up the plan soon after its special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday held a meeting with Rustem Umerov, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian envoy reportedly agreed to the majority of the plan after making several modifications.

US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll was also in Kiev on Thursday and discussed the latest draft with Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian leader then offered a statement on social media about the US proposal, saying, “Our teams — of Ukraine and the United States — will work on the provisions of the plan to end the war. We are ready for constructive, honest and swift work.”

Nevertheless, Ukraine’s deputy UN Ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn told the UN Security Council, “There will never be any recognition, formal or otherwise, of Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation as Russian.”

“Ukraine will not accept any limits on its right to self-defense or on the size and capabilities of our armed forces, nor will we tolerate any infringement on our sovereignty, including our sovereign right to choose the alliances we want to join,” Hayovyshyn added.

The draft also calls for a “Peace Council” to be overseen by US President Donald Trump. It also provides for sanctions in the event that either Russia or Ukraine violates the truce.

Under the proposal, Russia would commit to making no future attacks. In addition, $100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be dedicated to Ukraine.

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The plan could not only drive a wedge between the US and its European allies, but also deepen divisions within the United States on the issue.

As reports about the draft emerged, European diplomats appeared caught by surprise, insisting they must be consulted.

“For any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

US Republican Representative and retired military officer Don Bacon described the plan as “unacceptable.”

“It is a 1938 Munich,” he said, referring to the diplomatic agreement aimed at securing peace with Nazi Germany.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly struggled to gain traction in mediating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Though he entered office vowing to resolve the conflict through diplomacy, his approach failed to produce meaningful progress.

After failing to secure his role as a peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine in June, Trump suggested it might be better to allow the fighting to continue “for a while” before intervening.

Later in August, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska but once again failed to achieve his goal, admitting that he was “not happy” with the outcome and that he had "made no progress at all."

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