U.S. outlines peace deal, proposing to freeze war, leave Ukraine's territories under Russian control

The U.S. has presented its allies with proposals for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. These involve a ceasefire and easing of sanctions against Russia. Bloomberg reports this. 

According to sources, the proposal essentially means freezing the war—Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia would remain under Moscow’s control.  Additionally, Ukraine would renounce NATO membership

French President Emmanuel Macron met with U.S. Special Representative Steve Witkoff as part of the Coalition of the Willing summit. U.S. officials noted that they aim for a complete ceasefire within the next few weeks, with allies meeting again next week in London to continue discussions.

The proposed plans are not final and require further discussion with Kyiv. European partners emphasized they would not recognize the occupied territories as Russian.

The negotiations will lose meaning if Russia does not cease hostilities. At the same time, providing security guarantees for Ukraine to ensure the implementation of any agreement is critically important. Kyiv has already agreed to a full ceasefire and expects the same from Moscow.

Sources also noted that during the summit, the Ukrainian delegation emphasized how a ceasefire monitoring mechanism could be implemented and how peacekeeping forces might be deployed.

Discussions in Paris were also based on initiatives from France and the UK regarding the deployment of “guaranteeing forces” on Ukrainian territory, as well as plans to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

European leaders want to demonstrate their commitment to supporting Ukraine and convince Donald Trump to support these guarantees.

After the Paris talks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned that Europe might indeed play a role in bringing peace to Ukraine, though earlier the U.S. was skeptical about the potential of European partners.

On Friday, Rubio said that security guarantees aren’t an “illegitimate desire” on Ukraine’s part, but that negotiators so far haven’t drilled down to that level of specificity.

“Every sovereign nation on Earth has a right to defend itself. Ukraine will have a right to defend itself and to enter into whatever agreements it wants to enter into on a bilateral basis with different countries,” he said.