Ukraine submits its response to updated US peace plan

The Ukrainian administration has submitted its response to Washington regarding the updated peace plan prepared by US President Donald Trump’s team to end the conflict.

According to a report by Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, citing Ukrainian and American officials, the Kiev administration has completed its assessment of the final draft and conveyed it to the American side.

The RBC-Ukraine website also confirmed, citing a source familiar with the matter, that the Ukrainian side has delivered the updated peace plan to the US.

Washington expects a swift response from Kiev

US President Donald Trump announced in an interview with Politico this week that the American delegation had delivered the updated plan to Kiev.

Trump stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inner circle “enthusiastically welcomed” the initiative, but noted that Zelenskyy himself had not yet reviewed the document at that time.

In the same interview, Trump called on Zelenskyy to “take action.” The Financial Times and The Telegraph newspapers had reported that December 25, the date Christmas is celebrated in the West, was set as the deadline for Kiev.

According to information obtained by RBC-Ukraine, the US did not impose a strict deadline on Kiev but requested that the response be provided as soon as possible.

Consultation process with European partners completed

The US had presented its initial 28-point peace plan at the end of November. Since then, at least six rounds of consultations have been held between Ukrainian and American representatives.

The American delegation met with the Russian side only once. The US President’s Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, presented the updated version of the plan to Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 2.

Ukraine is also conducting simultaneous talks with its European partners regarding the peace plan. The last meeting at the national security advisor level was held on December 9.

Following these talks, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine’s and Europe’s proposals had been prepared and that Kiev was ready to present them to its partners in Washington.

Demilitarized zone proposed in the draft

The Washington Post newspaper, citing American and Ukrainian sources, reported that the number of points in the updated US peace plan has been reduced from 28 to 20.

According to the report, the new draft envisions the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Donbas, a land swap, and the creation of a demilitarized zone along the entire line of contact.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that Donbas is historically Russian territory and states that Moscow will reclaim the region by military or other means.

Ukrainian negotiators, however, are signaling that Kiev could consider territorial concessions if Russia agrees to “mutual compromises.”