Extract from ABC News
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says an updated version of the peace plan has been presented to the US. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)
In short:
US President Donald Trump is "extremely frustrated with both sides" of the Ukraine–Russia war, the White House says.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine has proposed a referendum on disputed territories as part of an updated peace plan presented to the US.
Mr Zelenskyy said the status of the eastern Donetsk region and future control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant were the two key points of contention.
US President Donald Trump will send a representative to talks in Europe on Ukraine this weekend if there is a real chance of signing a peace agreement, the White House says.
But Mr Trump has grown weary of multiple meetings that never seem to reach an agreement on ending the war in Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.
"The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting," she said.
Kyiv is under pressure from the White House to secure a quick peace but is pushing back on a US-backed plan proposed last month that many see as favourable to Moscow.
Mr Trump spoke by phone on Wednesday with the leaders of France, Germany and Britain and said later that he had a spirited exchange with them, including the prospects for talks in Europe this weekend.
"He wants action for this war to come to an end, and the administration has spent more than 30 hours, this just in the past couple of weeks, meeting with the Russians and the Ukrainians and the Europeans," Ms Leavitt said.
"We'll see about the meetings this weekend, and stay tuned."
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed Ukrainians would vote on whether to concede disputed territory, as Kyiv handed the US revised proposals to end Russia's war.
Apart from the 20-point plan, any framework for peace should include security guarantees and an agreement on rebuilding Ukraine, he added.
Mr Zelenskyy said the US had discussed an idea to create a "free economic zone" in parts of eastern Ukraine where Kyiv's troops would withdraw, but that any territorial concessions would need to be put to a referendum.
"They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is supposedly that Russian troops will not enter this part of Donetsk region," he said.
"They do not know who will govern this territory," he said, adding that Russia was referring to it as a "demilitarised zone".
However, Mr Zelenskyy said there was still no common understanding on the land issue and that Ukrainians should vote on any territorial concessions in a referendum.
"I believe that the people of Ukraine will answer this question. Whether through elections or a referendum, there must be a position from the people of Ukraine," he said.
Kyiv, in the latest round of frantic shuttle diplomacy, is seeking to balance out a 28-point US-backed plan whose original version was seen as too favourable to Moscow.
Mr Zelenskyy said Russia's withdrawal from slivers of land in the north-eastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions, as well as the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, was part of the discussion.
The contact lines in the partially occupied southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson would be frozen where they were, he added.
The US has also offered potential joint governance of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest such facility in Europe and currently occupied by Russia, which wants to keep the station under its own control.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is currently under the control of Russian forces. (Reuters: Alexander Ermochenko)
"We have two key points of disagreement: the territory of Donetsk and everything related to it, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant," he said.
"These are the two topics we continue to discuss."
Pressure to secure peace
Ukraine is under mounting US pressure to quickly secure a deal with Russia, which has stepped up advances on the front line in recent months and renewed massive attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainian president, following reports that Mr Trump had set a Christmas deadline for Ukraine to accept the peace proposal, said Washington had not given Kyiv a strict timeline.
"I think they really wanted, or perhaps still want, to have a complete understanding of where we stand with this agreement by Christmas," he said.
Apart from a 20-point framework, the general peace plan will include separate documents on security guarantees, to prevent Russia from attacking again, and on rebuilding Ukraine's war-hit cities.
Ukraine, which says it has been let down by previous security assurances from allies, insists that guarantees are ratified in parliament.
Mr Zelenskyy said on Thursday he had an "in-depth" discussion on the matter with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Kyiv also wants to maintain a strong army after fighting ends, and Mr Zelenskyy said the latest draft proposal put it at 800,000 — higher than in an initial framework, according to reports.
Ukraine said it was not disclosing details of its amendments pending the American side's reaction.
Reuters
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