Trump’s 28-point ‘capitulation’ peace plan sparks astonishment in Ukraine – as US ‘issues threats to agree by Thursday’
21 Nov 2025
Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine has sparked astonishment in Kyiv, as officials process how it appears to call for a full capitulation to Vladimir Putin‘s draconian demands after almost four years of conflict.
Ukraine woke up Friday to a controversial U.S. proposal – based off the Gaza war ceasefire – that would force it to give up its land, cut its army in half and hold elections within 100 days
Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine has sparked astonishment in Kyiv, as officials process how it appears to call for a full capitulation to Vladimir Putin‘s draconian demands after almost four years of conflict.
Ukraine woke up Friday to a controversial U.S. proposal – based off the Gaza war ceasefire – that would force it to give up its land, cut its army in half and hold elections within 100 days.
But despite the pressure, Kyiv will refuse to accept any deal that violates its ‘red lines’, the country’s top negotiator said on Friday.
‘There can be no decisions outside the framework of our sovereignty, the security of our people, or our red lines – now or ever,’ Kyiv’s security council chief and negotiator Rustem Umerov said on social media.
Many of the proposals are ‘quite concerning,’ according to a European government official, who told AP that Ukraine’s allies in the EU were not consulted in peace efforts, and that a bad deal for Kyiv would also be a threat to the bloc’s broader security.
Ukraine is being asked to give up the entire Donbas
Washington’s draft appeared to heed to the demands of the Kremlin, whose 2022 invasion has turned into Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.
Under the plan, Moscow would not only keep territories that it occupies but get more land currently controlled by Ukraine.
The West would lift sanctions on Russia and Moscow would be invited back into the G8.
The plan would also pile pressure on Zelensky, requiring elections to be held in Ukraine within 100 days – another key demand being pushed by Moscow, which has repeatedly and openly called for the Ukrainian leader to be toppled.
Zelensky has said he will discuss the plan with Trump in the ‘coming days’ – so far not saying if Kyiv would agree to any of it.
He has insisted his country needed a ‘dignified peace’.
‘With a neighbour like Russia, defending one’s own dignity, freedom, and independence is an extremely difficult task,’ he said Friday.
The European Union has not officially received the U.S. proposal but it would be discussed on the sidelines of the G20 in South Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Putin had not commented but Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister who is close to the Kremlin and Washington, said it was a ‘decisive moment’ and the coming weeks will be ‘crucial’.
Reports that the United States and Russia were secretly working on a plan to end the conflict were leaked earlier this week, but the White House denied that it had prepared it with Moscow.
The proposal comes with Russian troops grinding forward on the battlefield and with Zelensky facing domestic pressure after a corruption scandal rocked the country’s war-hit energy sector
Full text of Trump and Putin’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine
1. Ukraine’s sovereignty will be confirmed.
2. A comprehensive [sic] and comprehensive non-aggression agreement will be concluded between Russia, Ukraine and Europe. All ambiguities of the last 30 years will be considered settled.
3. It is expected that Russia will not invade neighbouring countries and NATO will not expand further.
4. A dialogue will be held between Russia and NATO, mediated by the United States, to resolve all security issues and create conditions for de-escalation in order to ensure global security and increase opportunities for cooperation and future economic development.
5. Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees.
6. The size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be limited to 600,000 personnel.
7. Ukraine agrees to enshrine in its constitution that it will not join NATO, and NATO agrees to include in its statutes a provision that Ukraine will not be admitted in the future.
8. NATO agrees not to station troops in Ukraine.
9. European fighter jets will be stationed in Poland.
10. US guarantee:
▪️ The US will receive compensation for the guarantee.
▪️ If Ukraine invades Russia, it will lose the guarantee.
▪️ If Russia invades Ukraine, in addition to a decisive coordinated military response, all global sanctions will be reinstated, recognition of the new territory and all other benefits of this deal will be revoked.
▪️ If Ukraine launches a missile at Moscow or St. Petersburg without cause, the security guarantee will be deemed invalid.
11. Ukraine is eligible for EU membership and will receive short-term preferential access to the European market while this issue is being considered.
12. A powerful global package of measures to rebuild Ukraine, including but not limited to:
a. The creation of a Ukraine Development Fund to invest in fast-growing industries, including technology, data centres, and artificial intelligence.
b. The United States will cooperate with Ukraine to jointly rebuild, develop, modernise, and operate Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, including pipelines and storage facilities.
c. Joint efforts to rehabilitate war-affected areas for the restoration, reconstruction and modernisation of cities and residential areas.
d. Infrastructure development.
e. Extraction of minerals and natural resources.
f. The World Bank will develop a special financing package to accelerate these efforts.
13. Russia will be reintegrated into the global economy:
a. The lifting of sanctions will be discussed and agreed upon in stages and on a case-by-case basis.
b. The United States will enter into a long-term economic cooperation agreement for mutual development in the areas of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data centres, rare earth metal extraction projects in the Arctic, and other mutually beneficial corporate opportunities.
c. Russia will be invited to rejoin the G8.
14. Frozen funds will be used as follows:
$100 billion in frozen Russian assets will be invested in US-led efforts to rebuild and invest in Ukraine. The US will receive 50% of the profits from this venture. Europe will add $100 billion to increase the amount of investment available for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Frozen European funds will be unfrozen. The remainder of the frozen Russian funds will be invested in a separate US-Russian investment vehicle that will implement joint projects in specific areas. This fund will be aimed at strengthening relations and increasing common interests to create a strong incentive not to return to conflict.
15. A joint American-Russian working group on security issues will be established to promote and ensure compliance with all provisions of this agreement.
16. Russia will enshrine in law its policy of non-aggression towards Europe and Ukraine.
17. The United States and Russia will agree to extend the validity of treaties on the non-proliferation and control of nuclear weapons, including the START I Treaty.
18. Ukraine agrees to be a non-nuclear state in accordance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
19. The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant will be launched under the supervision of the IAEA, and the electricity produced will be distributed equally between Russia and Ukraine — 50:50.
20. Both countries undertake to implement educational programmes in schools and society aimed at promoting understanding and tolerance of different cultures and eliminating racism and prejudice:
a. Ukraine will adopt EU rules on religious tolerance and the protection of linguistic minorities.
b. Both countries will agree to abolish all discriminatory measures and guarantee the rights of Ukrainian and Russian media and education.
c. All Nazi ideology and activities must be rejected and prohibited.
21. Territories:
a. Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian, including by the United States.
b. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be frozen along the line of contact, which will mean de facto recognition along the line of contact.
c. Russia will relinquish other agreed territories it controls outside the five regions.
d. Ukrainian forces will withdraw from the part of Donetsk Oblast that they currently control, and this withdrawal zone will be considered a neutral demilitarised buffer zone, internationally recognised as territory belonging to the Russian Federation. Russian forces will not enter this demilitarised zone.
22. After agreeing on future territorial arrangements, both the Russian Federation and Ukraine undertake not to change these arrangements by force. Any security guarantees will not apply in the event of a breach of this commitment.
23. Russia will not prevent Ukraine from using the Dnieper River for commercial activities, and agreements will be reached on the free transport of grain across the Black Sea.
24. A humanitarian committee will be established to resolve outstanding issues:
a. All remaining prisoners and bodies will be exchanged on an ‘all for all’ basis.
b. All civilian detainees and hostages will be returned, including children.
c. A family reunification programme will be implemented.
d. Measures will be taken to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the conflict.
25. Ukraine will hold elections in 100 days.
26. All parties involved in this conflict will receive full amnesty for their actions during the war and agree not to make any claims or consider any complaints in the future.
27. This agreement will be legally binding. Its implementation will be monitored and guaranteed by the Peace Council, headed by President Donald J. Trump. Sanctions will be imposed for violations.
28. Once all parties agree to this memorandum, the ceasefire will take effect immediately after both sides retreat to agreed points to begin implementation of the agreement.
It said its envoy Steve Witkoff – who skipped a meeting with Zelensky this week – and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been ‘quietly’ working with both sides.
‘The president supports this plan. It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Washington has warned, however, that the document was still in working mode, while Kyiv said it had been presented as a ‘draft plan’.
Under the plan, the United States would recognise Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions as well as Moscow-annexed Crimea, as ‘de facto Russian’.
‘Ukrainian forces will withdraw from the part of Donetsk Oblast that they currently control,’ the plan envisages.
The Donetsk region has been the epicentre of fighting, with tens of thousands of troops killed on both sides.
Despite still controlling around 14.5 per cent of the territory in the mineral and coal-rich eastern Donbas region, Ukraine will be forced to surrender the entirety of its industrial heartland.
The frontline would be frozen in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which are both partly occupied by Moscow.
Russia would be required to give up small pockets of territory it has seized in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Ukraine would receive unspecified ‘reliable security guarantees’ while at the same time commit to cutting the size of its army, from over 900,000 to 600,000 personnel.
It would also bind Ukraine to ‘enshrine in its constitution’ not to join NATO but calls for European jets to be stationed in neighbouring NATO-member Poland.
The country would be banned from possessing long-range missiles, capable of hitting St Petersburg or Moscow.
And $100 billion of Russia’s frozen funds – sanctioned after its full-scale invasion in February 2022 – would go towards U.S.-led reconstruction efforts, with Europe contributing another $100 billion.
The U.S. would reap the benefits of the rebuilding projects, receiving 50 per cent of profits. The Russian economy would also receive a boost as part of a new long-term economic cooperation agreement with the U.S., which will involve rare earth metal extraction projects in the Arctic.
Aside for getting to keep its conquered territory, the plan also calls for Moscow, which is under massive Western sanctions for more than three years, to be ‘re-integrated into the global economy’.
Sanctions would be lifted and Moscow could rejoin the G8, which it was expelled from over the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Trump’s sympathies have flipped repeatedly between Moscow and Kyiv since he returned to the White House earlier this year, with this plan seen as a sign that he has taken on many of Russia’s key positions.
The proposal comes with Russian troops grinding forward on the battlefield and with Zelensky facing domestic pressure after a corruption scandal rocked the country’s war-hit energy sector.
In a statement on X, Zelensky wrote: ‘The American side presented points of a plan to end the war- their vision. I outlined our key principles. We agreed that our teams will work on the points to ensure it’s all genuine.’
Ukrainian officials said the U.S. wanted Zelensky to sign the proposal before Thanksgiving, which falls on Thursday next week, with sources suggesting that the stiff deadline was unlikely to give Kyiv enough time to negotiate.
On Thursday, European countries pushed back against the plan, indicating they would not accept demands for Kyiv to make punishing concessions.
‘Ukrainians want peace – a just peace that respects everyone’s sovereignty, a durable peace that can’t be called into question by future aggression,’ said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
‘But peace cannot be a capitulation.’
Moscow has downplayed the significance of the plan. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that, while there had been ‘contacts’ with the U.S., there was ‘no process that could be called “consultations”‘.
He emphasised that any peace deal would have to address the ‘root causes of the conflict’ – a phrase the Kremlin has used as shorthand for the maximalist demands which, to Kyiv, are equivalent to surrender.
Despite the momentum building towards peace, Russia has shown no sign of stopping its relentless strikes on Ukrainian civilians.
An attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia late on Thursday killed five people and injured three, the regional governor said.
It came after a Russian drone and missile attack in western Ukraine killed at least 26 people, including three children, after a block of flats in Ternopil was struck.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday Kyiv and Europe needed to be involved in any Ukraine peace plan.
‘For any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board,’ Kallas told reporters ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
‘We have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim. So we haven’t heard of any concessions on the Russian side.’
Recent events may have further weakened Ukraine’s position. Russia’s tactic of pummeling the nation’s energy and transport infrastructure will likely plunge swaths of the country into cold and darkness, while Putin has made territorial gains in the east and on the southern flank in Zaporizhzhia.
To make matters worse, Kyiv is facing a manpower crisis: some four out of five Ukrainians are fleeing military training centres after being drafted into the army, and last month saw a record 21,000 deserters.
A corruption scandal is also engulfing the president that led to parliament dismissing the energy and justice ministers on Wednesday, diverting attention from the war.
In a telling post on X, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: ‘Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas.
‘And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions.’
The proposal has been described as ‘heavily tilted towards Vladimir Putin,’ by unnamed sources quoted in the Financial Times.
The draft plan is ‘very comfortable for Putin,’ another source said.
Efforts to reach a peace deal have largely frozen since the last meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska in August, while Kyiv and Moscow have not held direct negotiations since the summer.
Russian forces control about 19 per cent of Ukrainian territory (44,800 square miles) and are grinding forwards, up from 18 per cent nearly three years ago.
Zelensky met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday in an effort to ‘intensify’ peace negotiations.
He was due to hold talks with Witkoff, but the meeting was postponed because the Ukrainian President intended to discuss an alternative plan drafted by EU allies which the Trump administration felt would be unacceptable to Putin, a U.S. source told Axios.
Reacting to the proposal, Sir Keir Starmer reiterated his position that ‘Ukraine must determine its future’ following a call with European leaders.
The Prime Minister told broadcasters: ‘I just had a call with President Zelensky, alongside President Macron and Chancellor Merz.
‘And that was an opportunity for us to express, again, our support for Ukraine and the principle that’s very important, which is all matters to do with Ukraine must be determined ultimately by Ukraine.’
Wary of antagonizing Trump, the European and Ukrainian responses to the deal were cautiously worded and pointedly commended American peace efforts.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and the British Prime Minister assured Zelensky of ‘their unchanged and full support on the way to a lasting and just peace’ in Ukraine, Merz’s office said.
The four leaders welcomed U.S. efforts to end the war. ‘In particular, they welcomed the commitment to the sovereignty of Ukraine and the readiness to grant Ukraine solid security guarantees,’ the statement added.
‘They agreed to continue pursuing the aim of protecting vital European and Ukrainian interests in the long term,’ the statement said.
‘That includes the line of contact being the point of departure for an agreement and that the Ukrainian armed forces must remain in a position to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine effectively.’
Zelensky said the leaders discussed the plan and appreciated the efforts of Trump and his team, although he added that they are ‘working on the document’.
‘We are closely coordinating to ensure that the principled positions are taken into account,’ Zelensky said in a Telegram post.
A European government source said that the U.S. plans weren’t officially presented to Ukraine’s European backers. They see their own futures at stake in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, which began in February 2022, and have insisted on being consulted in peace efforts.
Von der Leyen said she also would call Zelensky to discuss the 28-point plan.
‘Important is a key principle we have always upheld, and that is nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,’ she said at a G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Original article, with diagrams, photos and videos here :
It was Boris Bondarev who said that if Witless Witkoff was entrusted with negotiating with Kirill Dmitriev, then Dmitriev would simply dictate the terms to Witless.
Which has in fact happened.
Is it just me or does this so called plan look even more wretched and diabolical the more you read it?😠😤🤮
Not just you Billy.
It’s sick, evil and frankly depraved, given that it rewards genocide, treats the victim as if the whole horror is their fault and then puts pressure on the victim to submit or else …..
It’s shit-stained tp. 🤮🤮🤮