Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed about contacts with President Donald Trump’s envoys on US proposals for a possible Ukrainian peace deal and Moscow will now formulate its position, the Kremlin said.
Mr Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly complained that ending the Ukrainewar – the deadliest in Europe since World War II – has been the most elusive foreign policy aim of his presidency.
Ukraine and its European allies are worried that Mr Trump could sell out Ukraine and leave European powers to foot the bill for supporting a devastated Ukraine after Russian forces took 12-17 square km of Ukraine per day in 2025.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that envoy Kirill Dmitriev had briefed Mr Putin on the trip to Miami for contacts with Mr Trump’s envoys.
But Mr Peskov refused to be drawn on Russia’s reaction to the proposals, or the exact format of the documents, saying that the Kremlin was not going to communicate via the media.
“All the main parameters of the Russian side’s position are well known to our colleagues from the United States,” Mr Peskov told reporters.
“Now we mean to formulate our position on the basis of the information that was received by the head of state and continue our contacts in the very near future through the existing channels that are currently working.”
Mr Putin has said in recent weeks that his conditions for peace are that Ukraine should cede the around 5,000 square km of Donbas that it still controls and that Kyiv should officially renounce its intention to join the NATO military alliance.
Asked about the format of the documents brought back to Moscow by Mr Dmitriev from Miami, Mr Peskov said it was not appropriate to speak to the media about it.
Explosive ordnance disposal specialists work alongside police officers to collect debris in Kyiv, Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest version of a plan to end the Russian invasion would freeze the front line, but still pave the way for Ukrainian withdrawals and the creation of demilitarised zones.
Mr Zelensky said the 20-point plan had demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the 20% of the Donetsk region it still controls and that land occupied by Moscow be recognised as Russian territory.
A requirement for Kyiv to legally renounce its bid to join NATO has also been dropped from the latest plan, though the United States has long said it would not admit Ukraine to the bloc.
“In the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, the line of troop deployment as of the date of this agreement is de facto recognised as the line of contact,” Mr Zelensky said of the latest version.
“A working group will convene to determine the redeployment of forces necessary to end the conflict, as well as to define the parameters of potential future special economic zones,” he added.
Mr Zelensky shared details of the plan with journalists in a briefing in Kyiv yesterday, published early this morning.
This appears to suggest the plan opens the way for, but delays, options that Ukraine was previously reluctant to consider – a withdrawal of troops and the creation of demilitarised zones.
“We are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from the Donetsk region, while the Americans are trying to find a way,” Mr Zelensky said.
“They are looking for a demilitarised zone or a free economic zone, meaning a format that could satisfy both sides,” he continued.
Ukraine also suggested Energodar, a city occupied by Russia that manages the Zaporizhzhia power plant, could become a demilitarised zone.
Any plan that involves Ukraine pulling back its troop would need to pass a referendum in Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said.
“A free economic zone. If we are discussing this, then we need to go to a referendum,” Mr Zelensky said.
The plan also sees joint US-Ukrainian-Russian management of the Zaporizhzhia plant, occupied by Russian troops. Zelensky said he does not want any Russian oversight of the facility.
He also said Ukraine would hold presidential elections only after an agreement is signed.
Read more: Ukraine war in 2025: Talks, setbacks and more war