Zelenskyy in cautious response to 'peace plan'

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will negotiate with Donald Trump on a US-backed peace plan that calls on Kyiv to make painful concessions in order to end the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

- Luke Harding Kyiv Andrew Roth Washington

Zelenskyy's office confirmed yesterday that he had received the draft peace plan prepared by US and Russian officials, and that he would speak to the US president in the coming days about "existing diplomatic opportunities and the main points that are necessary for peace."

"We agreed to work on the points of the plan so that it would bring a worthy end to the war," it said.

The cautious response from Ukraine's presidential administration followed angry denouncements of the plan by some Ukrainian officials as "absurd" and unacceptable. Zelenskyy's statement came as he held talks yesterday with a high-ranking US army delegation.

Other officials in Kyiv said the proposal reportedly drafted by Kirill Dmitriev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff was a “provocation" to stir up division and "disorientate" Ukraine's allies.

"There are currently no signs that the Kremlin is ready for serious negotiations. Putin is trying to stall for time and avoid US sanctions," said Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine's foreign policy parliamentary committee. He dismissed Dmitriev as a "nobody".

Ukraine's first deputy foreign minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, and suggested it was a classic Soviet-style information operation to influence opinion and sow panic.

According to media reports, the sweeping 28-point proposal closely resembles demands made by Moscow soon after its full-scale invasion in early 2022. It was reportedly drawn up with support from Trump. Kyiv was not consulted. One European diplomat said they only learned of the plan when they turned on the news.

It envisages Ukraine giving up the northern part of the Donbas region to Russia, and cutting its army in half. Ukraine would also be forced to relinquish its long-range weapons, used to strike military targets inside Russia.