Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in a meeting with Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen, September 27, 2025
EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Can Ukraine and Europe Push Back the Trump-Kremlin Plan?
EA on WION: The Trump-Kremlin Plan for Ukraine’s Capitulation
Thursday’s Coverage: Trump-Kremlin Plan for Capitulation of Kyiv
Ukraine has knocked back a 28-point Trump-Kremlin plan, seeking Kyiv’s capitulation to Russia’s 46-month full-scale invasion.
The plan was drafted by Donald Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in discussions with Vladimir Putin’s senior economic adviser Kirill Dmitriev.
It endorses the Kremlin’s demands for the remaining 22% of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, cuts the size of Ukraine’s military in half, blocks Western military assistance to Kyiv, and prohibits Ukrainian membership of NATO.
Sanctions are eventually lifted on Russia, which will be readmitted to the G7 nations and launch joint economic projects with the US.
In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was diplomatic in not rejecting negotiations.
Ukraine needs peace and Ukraine will do everything so that no one in the world can say we are upending diplomacy. This is important….
The number one task for everyone is a constructive diplomatic process with America and all our partners.
However, he effectively rejected elements of the plans by emphasizing peace on the basis of “Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and the dignity of the Ukrainian people”.
And the President said Ukraine must engage in the talks so it could continue its defense and counter-attacks against Moscow’s ground and air assault, including on Ukrainian civilians: “It is vital to have stable support for our army and all our planned defense operations and deep strikes.”
While Zelensky said it was important that Kyiv makes no “rash” statements, officials described the plans as “absurd” and unacceptable.
“Senior US officials” — possibly Witkoff and Kushner — spun the media by declaring that Ukraine had been involved in the development of the plan. That claim was refuted by Ukrainian officials, who said they were not consulted.
Soon after meeting Dmitriev in Miami, Florida, Witkoff saw Rusttem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, in the same city.
However, there is no evidence that Umerov was able to ease the Russian demands in the plan. Instead, the “senior US officials” told the media that he had tried to water down a clause on anti-corruption, implying that the general was most concerned about protecting the corrupt amid a $100 million scandal over kickbacks in the energy industry.
Zelensky met a high-ranking US military delegation, led by the Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, in Kyiv on Thursday.
No details were given of the conversation. US officials said Driscoll had “important messages” from the White House, and will likely travel to the Kremlin at the end of next week.
Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, appears to have been excluded from discussions. The White House says he is leaving his post in January.
