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The United States has signaled to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine must accept a U.S.-drafted framework to end its war with Russia. The framework proposes that Kiev give up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the proposals included, among other things, reducing the size of Ukraine's armed forces. They said Washington wants Kiev to accept the main points.
Such a plan would represent a major setback for Kiev as it faces further Russian territorial gains in eastern Ukraine and with Zelensky grappling with a corruption scandal that on Wednesday saw Parliament dismiss the ministers of Energy and Justice.
The White House declined to comment on the matter. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in X that Washington "will continue to develop a list of possible ideas to end this war based on contributions from both sides of this conflict."
"Ending a complex and deadly war like the one in Ukraine requires a broad exchange of serious and realistic ideas. And achieving a lasting peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions," Rubio said.
A senior Ukrainian official previously told Reuters that Kiev had received "signals" about a series of U.S. proposals to end the war that Washington has been discussing with Russia. Ukraine had no role in preparing the proposals, the source said.
Zelensky, who held talks in Turkey on Wednesday with President Tayyip Erdogan, will meet with US military officials in Kiev on Thursday.
In comments on Telegram, Zelensky did not mention Washington's framework, but called for effective US leadership to help end the more than 3-and-a-half-year-old war.
"The key to stopping the bloodshed and achieving lasting peace is for us to work in coordination with all our partners and for American leadership to remain effective and strong," Zelensky wrote, after meeting with Erdogan in Ankara.
Zelensky said that only the United States and US President Donald Trump "have enough strength for the war to finally end."
The Ukrainian president also said that Erdogan had proposed different formats for talks "and it is important for us that Turkey is ready to provide the necessary platform."
Signs of a renewed push by the Trump administration to end the war caused the biggest rise in Ukrainian government bond prices in months on Wednesday.
There have been no face-to-face talks between Kiev and Moscow since a meeting in Istanbul in July, and Russian forces have continued Moscow's nearly four-year war in Ukraine, killing 25 people in overnight airstrikes.
Efforts to revive peace negotiations appear to be gaining momentum, although Moscow has shown no signs of changing its terms for ending the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long demanded that Kiev abandon plans to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance and withdraw its troops from four provinces that Moscow claims as part of Russia. Moscow has given no sign of abandoning any of those demands, and Ukraine says it will not accept them.
Russian forces control about 19% of Ukrainian territory and are advancing, carrying out frequent attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
Turkey, a NATO member that has remained close to both Kiev and Moscow, hosted an initial round of peace talks in the early weeks of the war in 2022, the only such talks until this year when Trump launched a new effort to end the fighting.
The Kremlin said Russian representatives would not be involved in the talks in Ankara, but Putin was open to talks with the US and Turkey regarding the results of the discussions.
On Wednesday, citing a US official with direct knowledge of the matter, Axios reported that the new US plan would see Ukraine hand over to Moscow a portion of eastern Ukraine it does not currently control in exchange for a US security guarantee for Kiev and Europe against future Russian aggression.
A European diplomat, commenting on the alleged new US proposals, said they could be another attempt by the Trump administration "to push Kiev into a corner", but added that there can be no solution that does not take into account Ukraine's position or that of Washington's European allies.
Another European diplomat said the suggestion that Ukraine downsize its military sounded like a Russian demand rather than a serious proposal.
A US delegation led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is in Kiev on a "fact-finding mission," the US embassy in Kiev said.
The Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, is also in the delegation and he and Driscoll will meet with Zelenskiy on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. / Adapted from Reuters /
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