TERNOPIL, UKRAINE, NOV 20 (AFP/APP/DNA):A new US peace proposal would see Kyiv ceding land and more than halving its army, a source told AFP Wednesday, as a Russian strike in the west of Ukraine killed 26 people, including three children.
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 Zelensky’s efforts to re-engage US President Donald Trump’s administration in the peace process during a visit to Turkey 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, told AFP.
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’s story” or “his entourage’s”, the official added.
It was “unclear” what Russia was supposed to do in return, according to the source.
At the same time, US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll arrived in Kyiv, leading a high-profile Pentagon delegation to meet Ukrainian officials and find ways to settle the conflict, US broadcaster CBS News said, citing the US military. Driscoll met Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmygal on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrsky said he had held a “productive” meeting with the US delegation.
“I once again stressed that reinforcing the protection of Ukraine’s airspace, expanding our long-range strike capabilities against enemy military targets and maintaining and stabilising the front line will undermine the offensive potential of the adversary,” he said in social media posts.
American media outlet Axios earlier reported Moscow and Washington had been working on a secret plan to end the almost four-year war.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the report, later saying there was nothing new in the peace settlement progress. AFP has contacted the White House for comment.
Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, much of it ravaged by fighting.
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