Russia said it had not yet received anything official from the United States on a peace plan, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was ready to work with the Trump administration on a “vision” for ending the war, the BBC reported.
The widely leaked US plan includes proposals previously ruled out by Kiev, including ceding the eastern Donetsk region that Kiev still controls, reducing the size of its military, and pledging not to join NATO.
The draft plan emerged as Russia claims small territorial gains in eastern Ukraine and as President Zelenskiy faces a domestic crisis involving senior government officials in a $100m (about £76m) corruption scandal.
The White House pushed back on claims that Ukraine was frozen out of drafting the proposal after a meeting between U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
An unnamed US official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the plan was developed “immediately” after consultation with Rustem Umerov, one of the most senior members of Zelenskiy’s government, who agreed to much of the plan.
Mr. Umerov is said to have made several amendments before submitting it to Mr. Zelensky.
Umerov told Telegram that he had not evaluated or approved any plans, adding that Ukraine was still “carefully considering the partners’ proposals.”
President Zelenskiy has been careful not to publicly criticize or reject the plan, saying, “I appreciate the efforts of President Trump and his team to restore security to Europe,” perhaps a way to keep Donald Trump in check despite the administration’s seemingly soft approach toward Russia.
His office said the plan “could help revitalize diplomacy in the US assessment.”
Zelenskiy said he would discuss the proposal with President Trump in the coming days.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said: “We see some new elements, but we have not received anything officially. There have been no substantive discussions on these points.”
He added that Russia remains “completely open to peace negotiations.”