US presses Ukraine to cede land

A NEW US peace proposal would see Kyiv ceding land and more than halving its army, a source said this week, as a Russian strike in the west of Ukraine killed 26 people, including three children.

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The proposal appears to repeat Russia's maximalist terms to end the war - demands consistently rejected by Ukraine as tantamount to capitulation.

The surprise initiative comes as Russian missiles hit the city of Ternopil, far from the front line, in one of the deadliest attacks on western Ukraine since the invasion began in 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s efforts to reengage US President Donald Trump's administration in the peace process during a visit to Turkiye fell flat after an American envoy thought to be joining him did not make the trip.

The draft US peace proposal provides for “recognition of Crimea and other regions that the Russians have taken” and “reduction of the army to 400 000 personnel’, a source familiar with it, who did not wish to be identified, said.

It would also see Ukraine giving up all long-range weapons.

“An important nuance is that we don't understand whether this is really ‘Trump’ story” or “his entourage’s’, the official added.

It was “unclear” what Russia was supposed to do in return, according to the source.