President Vladimir Putin said Friday a U.S. plan could "lay the foundation" for a Ukraine peace deal, confirming for the first time that Moscow had received a copy from the United States.
"I believe that it could lay the foundation for a final peace settlement," he said, referring to Washington's 28-point plan, which enshrines many of Moscow's key demands and has raised concerns in Kyiv and Europe.
Putin threatened to seize more territory if Kyiv rejects the proposal, saying that the claimed recent capture of Ukrainian city Kupiansk "will inevitably be repeated in other key areas of the front line."
The draft peace plan obtained by Western media outlets would require Ukraine to cede territory it currently controls in the Donbas region, drastically reduce the size of its armed forces and declare neutrality by pledging never to join NATO, among other provisions.
Earlier Friday, the Kremlin said it had received no official peace proposal from Washington, despite reports that Russian and U.S. officials had quietly drafted the plan, and reiterated that it remained committed to the principles agreed at the U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska in August.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that he was prepared for “honest” discussions with the U.S. and Europe about the plan, which sources say Trump endorsed earlier this week.
Trump indicated Friday that he had set a deadline of Nov. 27 for Ukraine to accept his administration's plan.
"I've had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines. But Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time," Trump said in an interview with Fox Radio.
The reported terms are likely to face resistance in Ukraine. It also remains unclear whether Putin would accept elements that appear to require concessions from Russia, including the transfer of $100 billion in frozen Russian assets to help rebuild and invest in Ukraine.
Asked Friday whether Moscow was prepared to accept the reported provisions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer, saying the Kremlin did not consider it useful to discuss those kinds of details publicly.
“We are fully open to dialogue and remain ready for peace negotiations,” he said, while adding that Russia’s military advances should “make it clear to Zelensky and his government that it would be better to reach an agreement now rather than later.”
“The space he has to make independent decisions is shrinking in proportion to the territory lost as Russian forces continue to advance,” Peskov said.
News of the U.S.-Russian draft plan comes at a difficult moment for Zelensky. His government is currently facing its largest corruption scandal since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 after the country’s anti-corruption watchdog uncovered a $100 million scheme in the energy sector and named a businessman linked to the president as the alleged mastermind.
AFP contributed reporting.
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