A report said the United States and Russia drafted a cease-fire proposal to end the war in Ukraine. The draft is said to require Ukraine to concede the entire Donbas in the east and cut the size of its military in half.
On the 19th (local time), the British daily Financial Times (FT) reported that a cease-fire plan centered on demanding major concessions from Ukraine had emerged. According to informed sources, current and former U.S. and Russian officials took part in drafting it, and it remains only a basic framework.
According to the draft, Ukraine must concede the remaining parts of Donbas, including areas under its own military control, and reduce its armed forces by half. It must also give up key categories of weapons and see a reduction in U.S. military aid, recognize Russian as an official language of Ukraine, and grant official status to the Ukrainian branch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
FT said Steve Witkoff, special envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump, met this week with Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, and conveyed the proposal to the Ukrainian side.
The proposal includes elements Ukraine has long resisted, such as conceding Donbas, but Special Envoy Witkoff made clear he hopes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accepts the conditions. Ukrainian officials view the plan as reflecting the Kremlin's maximal demands and believe it is impossible for Ukraine without major changes.
Earlier, the U.S. outlet Axios also reported the previous day that the Trump administration was discussing with Russia a new peace proposal containing 28 items and had dispatched a high-level delegation to Ukraine.