‘Full Amnesty’ Clause Dropped From Trump Peace Plan, Kyiv Says

Ukraine managed to get a proposed “full amnesty” clause removed from the US-backed peace plan, according to Kyiv’s envoy to Washington.

Removing the clause – which would have waived any future claims over wartime actions – keeps the door open to holding Russia accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Olha Stefanishyna, said the revised talks process is already reshaping elements of the plan that had initially been criticized in Kyiv for favoring Moscow.

She said Ukrainian negotiators scrutinized the document line by line to prevent ambiguous language from weakening Ukraine’s legal and political position.

Ukraine flags “traps” in peace plan

Stefanishyna said the Kyiv delegation had sought to identify “traps” planted by Moscow inside the draft – a document that, based on leaked recordings, suggested it originated from Moscow.

“What I heard from our delegation […] and the team working around the document, that there was a lively interest in going through every element of 28 points and just see how many traps were there put in by Russians in terms of possibility of misinterpretation, you know, or double interpretation,” Stefanishyna said.

She added that the removal of a blanket amnesty provision ensures that Russia could still be held responsible for alleged war crimes.

Driscoll praised as talks intensify

Stefanishyna expressed confidence in US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a new special envoy and close ally of US Vice President JD Vance, who became a key negotiator for US President Donald Trump’s administration.

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She described him as “extremely well briefed on the military situation” and expressed hope that this would translate into a deeper understanding of Ukraine’s defense requirements.

She also said Driscoll has the “very right moral compass” for the task.

She said the negotiations “were not over,” signaling that further revisions to the framework remain possible as diplomatic efforts continue.

US delegation to visit Moscow

A US delegation led by special envoy to Russia Steve Witkoff is set to arrive in Moscow next week to continue discussions on Trump’s peace initiative.

“We’re expecting them in the first half of the week,” Putin told reporters, adding that the negotiations have not yet produced a concrete draft agreement. Instead, he said, the process so far had involved a set of issues proposed for discussion.

Putin noted that following talks between the US and Ukrainian delegations in Geneva, the original 28 points of Trump’s plan had been divided into four parts. He said Russia generally views them as a possible basis for future agreements, while stressing that “everything needs to be put into diplomatic language.”