Crimea to Russia, Zaporizhzhia Plant to US: Kyiv Faces Deadline to Respond to Trump-Backed Peace Plan (2025)

Kyiv is under pressure to respond by the end of the week to a set of confidential, Trump-backed proposals aimed at ending the war with Russia,including the possibility of forgoing NATO membership and potential US recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.

According to The Wall Street Journal, senior officials from the Trump administration delivered their proposal during a meeting with Ukrainian representatives in Paris last Thursday. European officials were also briefed during a separate one-day session.

A senior Trump official told The New York Post on Friday that Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, told his US counterparts that Kyiv is “90%” aligned with the peace framework presented in Paris by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and two special envoys.

This claim, however, was later dismissed by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry in a statement to Sky News,which said it “does not make political decisions” and therefore could not have provided any “assessments of percentage.”

The response is expected at a meeting later this week in London, where US, Ukrainian, and European officials will convene. If there’s alignment among the three sides, the proposals could be formally presented to Moscow.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg are expected to attend the London talks. Witkoff may travel to Russia afterwards, though that has not been officially confirmed.

What’s on the Table?

Sources familiar with the discussions said the US plan includes:

• Ukraine agreeing not to join NATO

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• Establishing a neutral zone around a nuclear power plant under US oversight

However, the ideas fall short of meeting several Russian demands. While the White House may consider recognizing Crimea as Russian, it does not acknowledge Russia’s legal claim over four eastern Ukrainian regions – Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk. The plan also does not call for Russian troops to withdraw from these areas.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained that Ukraine will never formally recognize Russia’s control over occupied territory while indicating a willingness to freeze the war along current front lines, with Russia occupying around 20% of Ukraine, as The New York Post reported on Friday.

Importantly, the US does not seek to limit Ukrainian military forces or block further Western military support. European troop deployments in Ukraine are also not ruled out.

This diplomatic push comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary “Easter truce” from the evening of April 19 through early April 21. While air raid sirens were silent across Ukraine on Sunday, fighting continued on the front lines, albeit with reduced intensity.

Zelensky has called for extending the ceasefire for 30 days. Moscow has yet to respond, though the US State Department said it would welcome a longer pause in hostilities.