Ukraine Signals Openness to Trump’s Ceasefire Blueprint as Russia Warns against Ignoring “Roots of Conflict”

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday issued its first formal response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly drafted peace plan aimed at halting the war with Russia, signaling a cautious willingness to work with Washington on the proposal’s core principles.

In a statement released after high-level talks between American and Ukrainian officials, Kyiv said the two sides had agreed to continue working through the 28-point framework, which U.S. officials say was modeled on the administration’s approach to securing a ceasefire in Gaza last month.

“Ukraine has sought peace from the very first day,” the presidential office said, stressing its readiness to cooperate with both the United States and Europe “constructively” to secure a “just end to the war.”

According to U.S. officials cited by The Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration’s draft calls for Ukraine to relinquish the entire eastern region of Donbas to Russian control, including areas currently held by Ukrainian forces. The prospective deal also urges Kyiv to suspend its ambition to join NATO for several years and would bar the deployment of an international peacekeeping force inside Ukraine.

In exchange, the proposal reportedly offers Ukraine U.S. security assurances and a formal commitment from Russia to halt further military aggression against Ukraine or any European state, a pledge that Moscow would codify through binding legislation.

Zelensky is expected to discuss these diplomatic avenues directly with President Trump in the coming days, the statement added.

Russia’s initial response to the leaks was swift but reserved. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Thursday that any potential settlement must “address the root causes of the conflict”, a phrase Russian officials often use to refer to Kyiv’s Western alignment and NATO aspirations.

Peskov noted that while communication channels with Washington remain open, “there are currently no negotiations” underway regarding such a peace plan. He added that nothing substantial had changed since discussions held during the Alaska summit earlier this year.

He declined to comment on whether President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the proposal’s details, which have drawn intense scrutiny both in Kyiv and across Europe.

The Trump plan, if formally presented, would rank among the most contentious diplomatic initiatives of the war. While Kyiv reaffirmed its support for “any substantive proposals capable of delivering real peace,” the notion of ceding Donbas and pausing NATO aspirations remains politically explosive inside Ukraine.

For Moscow, meanwhile, the public insistence on tackling the “roots” of the war signals that any negotiated deal would require far broader concessions from Kyiv than the West may currently be willing to entertain.

As both sides weigh the emerging American framework, the path to an actual ceasefire, let alone a durable peace, remains fraught with geopolitical tension, unresolved territorial claims, and deep mistrust.