A confidential US peace proposal for Ukraine demands that Kyiv formally recognize Russian control over Crimea and other occupied regions, slash its military to 400,000 personnel, and relinquish all long-range weapons, according to a senior official briefed on the draft. The terms, which mirror Moscow's longstanding maximalist conditions, have been repeatedly dismissed by Ukrainian leaders as equivalent to total capitulation, raising questions about whether the initiative originates directly from President Donald Trump or his advisors. The White House has not commented, while the Kremlin dismissed reports of progress as unremarkable.
The proposal's emergence coincides with a devastating Russian missile barrage on the western city of Ternopil, far from the front lines, which killed 26 civilians including three children and wounded 92 others in one of the war's deadliest strikes on civilian infrastructure since the 2022 invasion. Rescue teams sifted through rubble of collapsed apartment blocks amid thick smoke and elevated chlorine levels from fires, as authorities urged residents to shelter indoors. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the victims as ordinary people sleeping peacefully, while UN human rights chief Volker Turk condemned the assault as a horrifying escalation of long-range missile and drone tactics.
Amid these horrors, Zelensky's recent surprise visit to Turkey aimed at restarting US engagement in peace talks yielded limited results, with expected American envoy Steve Witkoff failing to attend and no Russian representatives present. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for renewed negotiations in Istanbul, but Zelensky prioritized immediate prisoner swaps and body repatriations. In Kyiv, US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll met with Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal and top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, who emphasized the need for enhanced air defenses, long-range strike capabilities, and frontline stabilization to counter Russian advances.
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Russia currently holds approximately one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, much of it devastated by prolonged fighting, as Moscow's forces continue incremental gains while targeting energy infrastructure ahead of winter. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga decried the Ternopil attack as a stark illustration of Russia's true "peace plans," underscoring Kyiv's reliance on Western sanctions and military aid to compel Moscow toward genuine diplomacy. The proposal's ambiguity regarding Russian concessions has fueled Ukrainian skepticism, with analysts viewing it as potentially tilted toward Putin amid Kyiv's domestic challenges, including a recent corruption scandal eroding allied support.
As winter approaches and Russian assaults intensify, the US initiative represents a high-stakes gamble to revive stalled settlement efforts after nearly four years of war, but its one-sided nature risks deepening divisions among Ukraine's backers and prolonging the humanitarian catastrophe. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the need for "difficult but necessary concessions" from both sides, yet without clarity on enforcement mechanisms, the path to a durable resolution remains fraught with peril for Ukraine's sovereignty and security.
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