US Forcing New Peace Plan on Zelensky That Benefits Putin

From Novaya gazeta Europe, Nov. 20, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/11/20/ssha-naviazyvaiut-zelenskomu-novyi-mirnyi-plan-vygodnyi-putinu. Condensed text:

. . . The US and Russia have developed a new plan to end the war in Ukraine that calls for significant concessions from Kiev. They have demanded that [Kiev] surrender the Donetsk Basin and reduce its army by half in exchange for security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe.

The details of the plan were reported yesterday by American [and British] media outlets such as the FT, Axios, Reuters, The New York Times, and a journalist from The Economist, citing sources familiar with the initiative.

A group of Russian and American officials participated in the creation of the plan without the participation of Ukraine. According to sources, one of its authors was Kirill Dmitriyev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and a close associate of Vladimir Putin. The authors of the proposal called on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to accept the stated conditions.

US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff conveyed the plan to Kiev this week. He met in Miami with current Ukrainian NDSC Secretary and former defense minister Rustem Umerov, the FT reports. Witkoff told Umerov that the US expects Zelensky to agree to the terms, even though the plan includes points that have long been “red lines” for Ukraine.

According to two Axios sources, Qatar and Turkey are involved in developing Trump’s new plan: One source said that mediation by Qatar and Turkey helped end the war in Gaza, and it could help end the war in Ukraine.

Terms of the plan.

In total, the US administration’s new peace plan consists of 28 points.

According to American media sources familiar with the document, Ukraine is required cede the entire Donetsk Basin – that is, all of Lugansk and Donetsk Provinces. And this despite the fact that Ukraine still controls about 14.5% of that territory. At the current rate of advance, Russia would need to fight for another four years to capture that territory, DeepState, a Ukrainian online project that tracks the progress of the war using an interactive map of the front, told the NYT.

The Telegraph’s sources claim that Kiev will cede control over the Donetsk Basin but retain legal ownership, and Russia will pay Ukraine “rent” for de facto control over the region. There was no confirmation of this information in other media.

Despite the Donetsk Basin’s transition to Russian control, these territories will be considered a demilitarized zone, and Russia will also not be able to deploy its troops there, Axios clarifies.

The front line will be frozen in Kherson and Zaporozhye Provinces, which are partially occupied by Russia. Following the negotiations, Russia will return some of these territories to Ukraine; it is still unknown exactly which parts.

The White House believes Ukraine is likely to lose these territories anyway if the war continues, and therefore it is better off making a deal now, Axios writes.

Kiev would also have to reduce the size of its armed forces: by half, according to the FT; and by 60%, according to a journalist from The Economist.

The plan also calls for Ukraine to give up key categories of weapons and refuse American military aid vital to the country’s defense. In addition, foreign troops will be banned from Ukrainian territory, and Kiev will no longer receive long-range weapons capable of striking deep into Russia. Also, as The Economist journalist clarified, the plan includes a ban on foreign military aircraft entering Ukrainian airspace.

Among other things, the plan obligates Ukraine to recognize Russian as an official state language and to grant official status to the Russian Orthodox Church, the FT’s sources added.

In exchange, the US will provide Ukraine and Europe with security guarantees against future Russian aggression, a US official familiar with the situation told Axios. It is unclear, however, what exactly these guarantees will be, beyond a promise to protect against further Russian aggression.

Also, according to Trump’s plan, the US and other countries (which are not specified) will recognize the Crimea and the Donetsk Basin as legitimate Russian territories, but will not ask Ukraine to do so.

Sources told RBC Ukraine that the US plan, among other things, calls for amnesty for war crimes, Russia’s return to the global economy and Ukraine’s renunciation of [future] NATO membership.

Expert: US doesn’t care what terms Russia and Ukraine agree on.

In an interview with Novaya gazeta Europe, political analyst Georgy Chizhov commented that the new peace plan emerged at the very moment when it seemed that the influence of Steve Witkoff and the entire so-called “pro-Russian party” in the American administration had faded. According to the expert, these officials were probably simply laying low and preparing this plan in secret.

At the same time, the political analyst points out that the actual status of the document is still unclear: It may be just a draft, or it may have already begun to be presented to the parties to the conflict.

“The current American administration doesn’t care what terms Russia and Ukraine agree on. For them, it is important that the agreement is reached and the fire is ceased. And what happens next is some distant East European business that doesn’t really concern them,” Chizhov noted.

It is for this reason, he explains, that the US initially tried to put pressure on Ukraine, which they considered the weakest party, in order to force it to make maximum concessions. Only when this approach failed did the White House begin to try pressuring Russia.

“At the same time, it seems to them (the American administration officials – Ed.) that Russia has colossal potential, and it is extremely difficult to force it to do anything. The current plan takes into account virtually all of the Kremlin’s demands, which Ukraine perceives as a call for capitulation” [Chizhov continued].

Since Russia has shown no willingness to seriously deviate from its initial conditions all year, the US is forced to essentially take them all into account – only then can the plan become acceptable to Moscow and be signed, Chizhov points out.

The Kremlin’s maximalist demands.

An FT source familiar with the document described it as very general and heavily biased in Russia’s favor. Another of the newspaper’s sources called it very convenient for Putin, while some of the plan’s points are absolutely unacceptable to Ukrainians.

Ukrainian officials interviewed by the FT said the plan was in line with the Kremlin’s maximalist demands, adding that without significant changes, it would have no chance of being accepted by Ukraine. However, one source familiar with the proposal was less pessimistic, saying that “the Americans are pressuring Moscow to clearly articulate what its real expectations are in order to begin negotiations.”

Another FT source expressed the view that Kiev’s acceptance of the plan would be tantamount to Ukraine giving up its sovereignty and described the initiative as a Russian attempt to “play” the Trump administration, which he said is seeking to demonstrate progress in concluding a deal.

The Kremlin has tightened its maximalist conditions, sensing Ukraine’s deteriorating position on the front lines and taking advantage of the fallout from a major corruption scandal involving people close to President Vladimir Zelensky, a Kyiv Independent source believes.

Former Ukrainian presidential foreign policy adviser Konstantin Yeliseyev told the NYT that Ukraine’s position is currently weak, and this is evident not only within the country but also among its partners, including the US and Russia.

What officials said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that in the deadly war being waged in Ukraine, “both sides” must agree to “difficult but necessary concessions.” According to him, this is why the US is developing a list of “potential ideas” for ending this war based on proposals from both sides of the conflict.

European sources told The Telegraph they were largely kept in the dark about the details of the deal. The UK Foreign Office told Reuters it supported Trump’s efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, but noted that Russia could end the war now: “Russia could do this tomorrow by withdrawing its troops and ending its illegal invasion,” [a spokesperson] there said.

After his trip to Turkey, Zelensky wrote on X that “only President Trump and the US have sufficient power to make this war come to an end.” He added that Ukraine has supported “every strong and fair proposal aimed at ending this war” in recent months.

Kirill Dmitriyev told Axios that he is optimistic about the deal because he feels that the Russian position is really being heard. He said the US will explain the “benefits” of the peace deal to Ukraine and Europe, noting that this is happening as Russia is definitely making further gains on the battlefield. Following media reports about a new plan to end the war in Ukraine, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on the social media site X that the publication’s journalist likely “got this from K.” But then he quickly deleted his tweet, according to journalists and correspondents at The Daily Beast. The American journalists assume that “K.” is Kirill Dmitriyev.