Ukraine believes diplomacy may finally have a narrow opening to halt its war with Russia, with President Volodymyr Zelensky identifying a window stretching from December this year through the end of summer 2027.
Mr Zelensky said he had worked with American and European officials on a one-page set of proposals that will be put to Moscow. The plan is intended to end a conflict that began when Russia invaded its neighbour four-and-a-half years ago.
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The document includes a ceasefire proposal and a previously discussed US plan for a free economic zone in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which would be overseen by a third party, Mr Zelensky said.
“One of the ideas is a ceasefire — that is the central point. The second concerns the free economic zone proposed by the Americans,” Mr Zelensky told reporters at a weekend briefing.
Russia has declared four Ukrainian regions part of its territory, even though it does not fully control any of them. Moscow has repeatedly insisted that a settlement would require Ukraine to surrender all four regions and address what it calls the conflict’s “root causes”.
Mr Zelensky said the opportunity for negotiations would begin with the G20 summit, due to take place in the US in December this year, and last until the end of summer 2027.
After that, he said, the political agenda in Washington would be dominated by campaigning for the 2028 presidential election.
Earlier this month, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine had given the US proposals for ending the war, but he had not previously disclosed further details.
Proposals address role of EU, NATO
President Zelensky waits for international guests at the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit in Kyiv on Sunday, which was followed by a Coalition of the Willing event yesterday
US-backed peace efforts collapsed earlier this year after Ukraine rejected Russian demands for additional territorial concessions. Washington was also increasingly drawn into the conflict with Iran.
US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner most recently travelled to Moscow in January, but have yet to make a visit to Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky said the draft’s third component dealt with the future role of the European Union and NATO, as well as what “Ukraine is prepared to do to achieve this”. He offered no further explanation.
“The three ideas I have outlined are not solely Ukrainian proposals,” Mr Zelensky said. He added that they had been shaped jointly with US and European officials, with some elements arising from earlier discussions between American negotiators and representatives of Ukraine and Russia.
Russia is prepared to consider fresh proposals for ending the conflict, but they must take account of the “realities on the ground”, a senior Russian diplomat said in an interview published last week.
Moscow’s main military objective remains the capture of the rest of Donbas, where Russian forces have been pressing towards Ukraine’s so-called fortress belt of eastern cities.
Russia condemns Finland
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, third from the left, along with other European leaders showing their solidarity with President Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday
The Kremlin said yesterday that comments by Finnish President Alexander Stubb endorsing Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, including attacks on e-commerce warehouses, showed that he was part of the “party of war”.
Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv on Monday, Mr Stubb said Ukraine’s allies should help it strengthen its capacity to strike deep into Russian territory. He argued that what he described as a “sensible military strategy” raised the cost of the war for Moscow and could convince ordinary Russians that the conflict should end.
Asked about the remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they had surprised Moscow. He accused Mr Stubb, as well as British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, of seeking to prolong the war in Ukraine.
“It is surprising, especially because only a few weeks ago the Finnish President spoke about the eventual need to normalise relations with Russia. Now, however, it appears that escalatory rhetoric has prevailed,” Mr Peskov told reporters during a conference call.
“Mr Stubb is also a prominent figure in the ‘party of war’, alongside the British prime minister. They are misleading voters by suggesting Russia can be defeated — a massive deception — and seem unwilling to recognise the realities on the ground,” Mr Peskov alleged, without offering evidence for his claims.
Finland, a firm supporter of Kyiv, joined NATO in 2023, one year after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. The decision ended seven decades of military non-alignment and approximately doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia.
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Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a Vatican envoy discussed possible routes towards peace during talks in Moscow yesterday.
Mr Lavrov said afterwards that he and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher had agreed to co-operate on humanitarian issues, including the plight of children caught up in the war zone.
