Putin briefed on Trump envoys’ Ukraine peace proposals as Zelensky outlines concessions
Russia is evaluating a U.S.-led draft framework to end the war in Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin was briefed on contacts between Kremlin representatives and envoys for U.S. President Donald Trump, the Kremlin said.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy, updated Putin following a trip to Miami for talks with Trump’s team. Peskov declined to detail the proposals or Russia’s response, saying Moscow “is not going to communicate via the media,” but added that the United States “knows all the main parameters” of Russia’s position. He said Moscow will now formulate its stance based on the briefing and continue contacts “in the very near future.”
The diplomatic movement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented the latest version of a U.S.-backed draft plan that, he said, includes significant changes from earlier iterations. Chief among them: Kyiv would no longer be required to formally renounce its NATO ambitions, and demilitarized zones could be created along current front lines in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
“In the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the line of troop deployment as of the date of this agreement is de facto recognized as the line of contact,” Zelensky said, describing provisions that would convene a working group to determine force redeployments and the parameters of potential future special economic zones. He indicated the plan opens the door to—and delays decisions on—withdrawals and demilitarized areas, adding that U.S. mediators were “looking for a format that could satisfy both sides.”
Any deal requiring Ukrainian troop pullbacks or creating free economic zones would need to be put to a national referendum, Zelensky said. He also said Ukraine would hold presidential elections only after an agreement is signed—an idea both Putin and Trump have pushed.
Ukraine and several European capitals remain wary that Trump’s push to be remembered as a peacemaker could come at Kyiv’s expense. European officials fear being left to cover much of the financial burden to stabilize and rebuild Ukraine, while Russian forces have pressed their advantage on the battlefield, seizing ground and pounding cities and the power grid with nightly missile and drone strikes. Moscow’s defense ministry said it captured another settlement in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian and European officials also note Russia clawed back territory at a rate of roughly 15 square kilometers a day in 2025.
The draft reportedly envisions joint U.S.-Ukrainian-Russian management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. Zelensky said he opposes any Russian oversight at the facility.
On NATO, Zelensky said Kyiv had moved away from proposed constitutional changes that would have barred membership bids. While admission remains out of reach for now—Washington has ruled out near-term accession—Kyiv insists its Euro-Atlantic course remains unchanged. Moscow has long called Ukrainian NATO membership unacceptable and cited it among the reasons for its 2022 invasion. Russia later claimed to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in addition to Crimea, which it seized in 2014.
For its part, the Kremlin has shown little willingness to compromise. Putin has reiterated demands for sweeping Ukrainian withdrawals and political concessions that Kyiv and its European backers have previously dismissed as capitulation.
The latest maneuvers underscore both the urgency and the fragility of any potential settlement. With Russia still advancing and Kyiv guarded about concessions, the coming days of quiet shuttle diplomacy—now acknowledged by Moscow—will test whether the U.S.-led draft can bridge hardened positions on territory, security guarantees and the future of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
