Russia-Ukraine peace deal denounced as “capitulation”

A reported plan devised by the U.S. and Russia involving major territorial concessions from Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine would amount to a “capitulation” for Kyiv, a Ukrainian advocacy group has told Newsweek. 

Reports carried by Axios, Reuters and the Financial Times said Moscow and Washington had privately drawn up proposals for Kyiv to give up some territories and weapons and significantly cut Ukraine’s Armed Forces. 

Olena Halushka, co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, told Newsweek on Thursday that everything included in this proposal “is either aiming at strengthening Russia’s battlefield position or sowing internal tensions inside Ukraine.” 

The reported proposals have not been confirmed by either the White House or the Kremlin, which Newsweek has contacted for comment.  

Why It Matters 

Pentagon officials have arrived in Kyiv to try to progress stalled peace attempts in the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

However, the unconfirmed reports about a peace plan in which Kyiv would have to surrender territory and weaken its military, have raised fears that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, already under pressure as his allies face corruption charges, will be pressured into rewarding Putin for his aggression.

What To Know

Media outlets reported that American and Russian officials had drafted a 28-point peace plan involving President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, requiring Kyiv to withdraw from the unoccupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.  

Putin claims to have annexed the oblasts which make up Ukraine’s Donbas region, although Moscow does not fully control them. 

The plan as reported would also cap Ukraine’s military at 50 percent of its current strength, abandon key categories of weaponry in return for Kyiv getting unspecified U.S. security guarantees. 

Reporting suggests prohibiting foreign troop deployments to Ukraine, preventing Kyiv from receiving foreign long-range weapons and forcing Ukraine to make Russian an official state language. 

Halushka, from the Kyiv advocacy group, said that given the war in the Donbas region has been ongoing since 2014 and it possesses the strongest fortifications, so leaving cities like Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, which would be under the terms of the reported deal, would be giving away the best fortified positions.

Independent investigations have documented abuses by Moscow’s forces in Ukraine, including torture, summary executions and sexual violence. A U.N. Commission of Inquiry reported that enforced disappearances by Russian authorities were systemic. Within this context, she said Ukrainian society will not “voluntarily accept giving up more people to this genocide.”

Protests that took place in Ukraine in July to protect anti-corruption infrastructure also showed that “for us, democracy is not an empty word,” Halushka added. “President Zelensky knows that the future of Ukrainian statehood will be decided not by him or his advisers, but by Ukrainian society. 

“That’s exactly what Russia very much counts on, to throw Ukraine into internal chaos,” she said, “that’s why this proposal is absolutely unacceptable for Ukraine.” 

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the plan is basically the same as the Kremlin’s 2022 Istanbul demands, which Moscow presented to Ukraine when the circumstances on the battlefield appeared to favor Russia more.  

Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian MP and member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) told Newsweek that given that Ukraine and the U.S. are allies, all agreements should bring positive results for both countries. 

He said any peace deal must be based on the reality that neither Ukraine nor Russia will win or lose the war, but the conflict must be ended.

What People Are Saying 

Olena Halushka, from the International Center for Ukrainian Victory told Newsweek: “No one wants peace more than Ukrainians, but we want a real and lasting peace and what is offered is nothing about peace.” 

Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian MP, told Newsweek: “The peace treaty should be based on reality. Ukraine will not lose in the war, but it will not win either. So will Russia, they will neither lose nor win—but the war must be ended,” adding “we have to wait for the publication of the plan.” 

The Institute for the Study of War, in its Wednesday update, said the plan “would deprive Ukraine of critical defensive positions and capabilities necessary to defend against future Russian aggression, apparently in exchange for nothing.” 

What Happens Next  

The strident response in Ukraine in opposing the purported deal shows that Kyiv would reject such a plan, if it is confirmed.  

Meanwhile, senior Pentagon officials, led by U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, have arrived in Ukraine to discuss efforts to end the war with Russia and will meet with Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday.