Reports: US peace plan asks Ukraine to cede Crimea, drop NATO bid

The United States has proposed a plan to Ukraine for ending the war that reportedly includes Ukraine formally recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea, renouncing its bid to join NATO, and the full lifting of U.S. sanctions on Russia.

Washington is now awaiting Kyiv’s response, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, and The Telegraph reported, citing sources.

“Ukraine is under pressure to respond this week to a series of far-reaching Trump administration ideas,” the WSJ article reads.

The proposals were documented in a classified memo handed to Ukrainian officials in Paris on April 17. Later that day, the proposals were also discussed with senior European leaders at a special meeting.

“The U.S. is now waiting for Kyiv’s response, which is expected to come at a meeting of U.S., Ukrainian and European officials in London later this week [April 23 – ed.]. Then if there is a convergence among the American, European and Ukrainian positions, the proposals could be floated to Moscow,” the report says.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he won’t attend the London talks and earlier said that the administration may pause negotiations if no progress is made in the coming weeks on key issues – aiming to push both Ukraine and Russia toward a resolution.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded that the reports in the media are not formal proposals but rather signals, ideas, or preliminary visions.

At the same time, he said that “Ukraine will not legally recognize Crimea as Russian. That’s beyond the bounds of our Constitution.”

“This is our land – the land of the Ukrainian people. That will never change. I believe we’ve already stated this clearly about all temporarily occupied territories,” Zelenskyy said.

He also accused Russia of deliberately trying to drag out the war.

“As soon as we start talking about Crimea or our sovereign territories, the conversation shifts into a framework that benefits Russia – a strategy of prolonging the war. We’re already in our twelfth year of conflict. That in itself answers whether we can make territorial deals with Russia,” he said.

Zelenskyy confirmed that during the April 23 meeting in London, the Ukrainian delegation will have a mandate to discuss a full or partial ceasefire.

“We’re ready for that stage. And we’re also prepared to commit that once a ceasefire is in place, we’re open to negotiations in any format to avoid a deadlock,” the president said.