US and Russian officials reportedly drafting plan to end conflict in Ukraine

US and Russian officials have quietly drafted a plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory and severely limit the size of its military, it was reported yesterday, as Russian drone and missile strikes hit the city of Ternopil, killing at least 25 people.

- Luke Harding Kyiv Pjotr Sauer Andrew Roth Washington

The draft plan, which was reportedly developed by Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and the Kremlin advisor Kirill Dmitriev, would force draconian measures on Ukraine that would give Russia unprecedented control over the country's military and political sovereignty and would likely be viewed as surrender in Kyiv.

The two men have formed an important but unofficial backchannel between Russia and the US, and it was unclear whether the plan had been formally backed by the Trump administration.

The Financial Times and Reuters reported that the proposal would require Ukraine to cede territory it controls in the country's east and halve the size of its military - conditions that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has in the past called nonstarters. Other conditions include limiting US military assistance and categories of armaments used by the Ukrainian military.

The existence of the 28-point plan, which appeared inspired by a similar proposal developed by the Trump administration to end the war in Gaza, was first reported by Axios.