President Volodymyr Zelensky told US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on Thursday that he would work with the Trump administration on its new “peace plan,” according to media reports.
A US official told Axios that Zelensky and Driscoll had “agreed on an aggressive timeline for signature” on the deal, after the President’s office said earlier on Thursday that Zelensky would speak to US President Donald Trump in the coming days.
It came after Zelensky held talks on Thursday with a high-ranking US military delegation led by Driscoll, who reports have claimed is likely to travel to Moscow at the end of next week to continue negotiations with the Kremlin.
A second US official told the outlet that Driscoll’s delegation had originally made plans to meet Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital for talks on military technology and strategy, before being tasked by the White House with helping to “kickstart negotiations” with Kyiv on behalf of US envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Since Driscoll did not know he would be assuming the role of peace envoy until last week, the official said, “as you can imagine, we wipe the calendar, go into full planning and prep mode.”
“He’s taking backgrounds, history of the war, all sorts of things all the way through the weekend, and then they scream out of here.”
Maximalist demands
The 28-point plan put to Zelensky, which was drawn up in furtive talks between Washington and Moscow, reportedly includes demands for Ukraine to hugely scale back its armed forces, hand over swathes of territory in Donbas, cease to receive Western weapons and forgo hosting foreign troops.
A report in The Telegraph suggested that Moscow could maintain control of eastern Donbas in exchange for a “rental fee” which would allow the parties to forgo the need for a referendum, which is required in Ukraine’s constitution for any transfer of territory.
A source told RBC-Ukraine that the framework would also see Russia reintegrated into the global economy and Ukraine forced to formally turn down future NATO membership.
The conditions are almost entirely identical to the demands made by Moscow in the immediate aftermath of the full-scale invasion and were not put to European allies, who reportedly learned of the talks only when the news broke on Wednesday.
Ukrainian officials have said that the document would effectively end its existence as an independent country and that several of its conditions could be used by Russia as justification for future military aggression.
According to a Ukrainian official speaking to Axios, the Ukrainian president was conciliatory during his meeting with Driscoll after planned talks with Witkoff in Turkey on Wednesday broke down amid allegations from the US side that Zelensky was not willing to engage seriously with the plan.
“The decision is to try to work on it jointly to make peace possible,” the official clarified.
“Live document”
Another US official said that the Trump administration had spent much of Wednesday and Thursday attempting to reassure Ukraine and its European allies that the plan is a “live document” which could be altered based on their positions.
Witkoff also spoke to German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday, according to Axios, telling him that the new plan was a “framework of ideas.”
“Witkoff stressed that the Trump administration is doing the responsible thing and is searching for ways to end the conflict in Ukraine,” a US official told the outlet.
Witkoff is said to have told Wadephul: “If people don’t like certain parts of the plan, they should let us know and we will try to find a compromise.”
In a statement on Telegram after the meeting, Zelensky wrote that he had “talked about options for achieving real peace, the stages of work and formats for dialogue, as well as new impulses for diplomacy” with Driscoll.
“Our teams – Ukraine and the US – will work on the points of the plan to end the war. We are ready for constructive, honest and operational work,” he continued.
“Peace is needed, and we appreciate the efforts of President Trump and his team to return security to Europe. Ukraine defends life and independence thanks to the courage of our people, our unity within the state, and the help of partners. We are working to ensure that all three elements are strong enough.”
“Still in flux”
At a briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Ukraine plan was “still in flux,” adding “we are having good conversations with both sides.”
She responded furiously to implications that Ukraine had been locked out of talks, saying that Witkoff and Rubio had been “engaged with both sides” in the discussions.
In a statement to Newsweek, Leavitt said that Trump has “grown frustrated with both sides for their refusal to commit to a peace agreement,” but noted that “nevertheless, the President and his team never give up, and the United States has been working on a detailed and acceptable plan for both sides to stop the killing and create a durable, lasting peace.”