Top Ukraine security official denies accepting terms of US peace plan

US officials say proposal was drafted after consultations with close ally of Zelensky

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s top security official denied on Nov 21 that he had agreed to a Trump peace plan, and European leaders hastily sought a response toa draft that endorses most of Russia’s key wartime demands.

Washington has presented Kyiv with a 28-point plan that would endorse many of Russia’s main demands, requiring Kyiv to give up additional territory, cut back the size of its military and forever abandon hope of joining the NATO Western alliance.

Ukraine’s European allies said they had not been consulted over the plan and scheduled an urgent phone call to discuss the situation.

Britain and Germany said their leaders would take part. Mr Zelen-sky’s office did not say whether he would join in.

US officials said the plan was drafted after consultations with Mr Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, who served as defence minister until July and is a close ally of Mr Zelensky.

“This plan was drawn up immediately following discussions with one of the most senior members of President Zelensky’s administration, Rustem Umerov, who agreed to the majority of the plan, after making several modifications, and presented it to President Zelen-sky,’ a senior US official said on Nov 20.

But Mr Umerov said on Nov 21 he had not discussed the plan’s terms, much less approved them.

“During my visit to the United States, my role was technical — or-ganising meetings and preparing the dialogue. I provided no assessments or, even more so, approvals of any points. This is not within my authority and does not correspond to the procedure,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.