Russia will seek changes to the latest version of the US peace plan aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. In particular, the Kremlin wants more restrictions on Ukraine’s armed forces, as well as solutions on sanctions and its frozen assets. This was reported by The WP Times, citing Bloomberg. A source close to the Kremlin told the outlet that Russia sees the current peace plan as a “starting point”.
“Moscow views the 20-point plan developed between Ukraine and the United States as a starting point for further negotiations, as it lacks provisions that are important for Russia and does not answer many key questions,” the source said.
The source added that the aggressor state regards the current document as “a fairly typical Ukrainian plan” and intends to “study it with a cold head”.
Bloomberg reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far not commented on the latest peace proposals developed during weeks of negotiations involving officials from the United States, Ukraine and Russia.
“Although Russia has not approved the latest version of the 20-point plan, it does not want to risk pushing away US President Donald Trump by fully rejecting it,” the article says.
The publication recalls Trump’s remarks earlier this week that “the talks are going well” and that there is a chance an agreement could be reached in the near future.
Russia’s demands on the peace plan
A person close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg that Russia is “concerned about guarantees against the future eastward expansion of the NATO military alliance and about Ukraine’s neutral status if it joins the European Union”. According to the source, “the plan lacks the restrictions Russia wants on Ukraine’s post-war armed forces and weapons systems, and it does not provide clear guarantees regarding the status of the Russian language in Ukraine”.
The outlet, citing a source, wrote that the aggressor state also wants “clarity on the lifting of sanctions and on the hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian state assets in the West”.
Bloomberg also reports that Russia is seeking to obtain from Ukraine all remaining territory in the eastern Donetsk region that Russian forces failed to occupy during nearly four years of war.
The publication notes that Ukraine rejects this demand because it fears that the loss of fortified territory would make it vulnerable to a new Russian attack.
US–Russia talks
On 20–21 December, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner held meetings in the United States with Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Following the meetings, Witkoff said that Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine. At the same time, the dictator’s envoy described the talks with US representatives in Florida as “constructive”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the issue of territory must be decided by the Ukrainian people through elections or a referendum. He later added that a referendum is not currently planned and that the Ukrainian negotiating team is continuing to seek ways to resolve the issue.
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