Ukraine said Friday it would work with a U.S. delegation in Kyiv to study the new plan backed by President Donald Trump to end Russia’s war.
Rustem Umerov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, urged allies to respect Kyiv’s position and stressed that it was still reviewing the proposal, whose sudden emergence has fueled unease across Europe.
The Kremlin remained tightlipped about its stance on the plan, which calls for major concessions from Kyiv.
“Yesterday, a conversation took place between the President of Ukraine and the U.S. delegation authorized by President Trump,” Umerov said in a post on X. “Today, this work continues in Kyiv at the technical level between the teams. We are carefully reviewing all proposals from our partners and expect the same respectful approach to Ukraine’s position.”
A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the plan was drawn up immediately following discussions with Umerov. He “agreed to the majority of the plan, after making several modifications, and presented it to President Zelenskyy,” the official said.
Umerov denied this Friday.
“During my visit to the United States, my role was technical — organizing meetings and preparing the dialogue. I provided no assessments or, even more so, approvals of any points. This is not within my authority and does not correspond to the procedure,” he said.
Zelenskyy said late Thursday that he had “a very serious conversation” with the American delegation, led by U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. He said the U.S. side presented its proposals, and that he outlined Ukraine’s “key principles,” reiterating that his nation’s position was simple — “a real peace” that will hold.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that any deal must provide full security guarantees and deterrence for Ukraine, Europe and Russia. “This plan was crafted to reflect the realities of the situation, after five years of a devastating war, to find the best win-win scenario, where both parties gain more than they must give,” Leavitt said.
The existence of the peace plan was first reported by Axios, which released its full version on Thursday.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News that the reported plan was accurate. It’s currently in draft mode but reflects where the parties stand at the moment, with feedback from both Russia and Ukraine, the source said.
The plan as outlined effectively amounts to a capitulation by Ukraine.
It calls for Ukraine to surrender its eastern Donbas heartland to Russia, including withdrawing from fiercely contested areas that it currently controls. It also stipulates that Ukraine would have to cap the size of its military and agree to never join NATO. The annexed Crimean peninsula will also be recognized as de facto Russian, including by the United States.
These are all key demands of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, with little obvious concessions to be made by the Kremlin’s part of the plan.
Nonetheless, Moscow has been publicly cautious.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Friday it had not received any information about Zelenskyy’s agreement to negotiate the peace plan, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
Monica Alba and Peter Alexander contributed.
