US urges Ukraine to accept framework requiring land concessions, weapons cuts to end Russia's war

The United States has communicated to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine is expected to agree to a US-crafted outline for ending the war with Russia, which would require Kyiv to relinquish some territory and certain weapons, Reuters reported citing two people familiar with the discussions.

The individuals, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the framework also calls for reducing the size of Ukraine’s military, among other conditions. Washington wants Kyiv to accept the core elements of the proposal, the sources added.

President Zelenskyy had earlier firmly ruled out giving up any part of the country’s territory, rejecting US suggestions that a peace agreement with Russia might involve land swaps.

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Such a plan would represent a major setback for Kyiv as it faces further Russian territorial gains in eastern Ukraine and with Zelenskiy tackling a corruption scandal in which parliament dismissed the energy and justice ministers on Wednesday.

A senior Ukrainian official earlier told Reuters that Kyiv had received “signals” about a set of U.S. proposals to end the war that Washington has discussed with Russia. Ukraine has had no role in preparing the proposals, the source said.

Zelenskyy, who was holding talks in Turkey on Wednesday with President Tayyip Erdogan, is due to meet U.S. Army officials in Kyiv on Thursday.

Signs of a renewed U.S.-led push to end the war triggered the biggest jump in Ukraine’s government bond prices in months on Wednesday.

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No face-to-face talks have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since a meeting in Istanbul in July and Russian forces have pressed on with Moscow’s nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, killing 25 people in strikes overnight.

Efforts to revive peace negotiations appear to be gaining momentum although Moscow has shown no sign of changing its terms for ending the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long demanded Kyiv renounce plans to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance and withdraw its troops from four provinces Moscow claims as part of Russia. Moscow has given no indication that it has dropped any of those demands and Ukraine says it will not accept them.

Meanwhile, A large Russian drone and missile barrage on Ukraine’s western city of Ternopil killed at least 25 people, including three children, authorities said Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Turkey in search of diplomatic support for his fight against Russia’s invasion.

The nighttime attack hit two nine-story apartment blocks in Ternopil, located around 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the Polish border, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. At least 73 people, including 15 children, were injured, emergency services said.

At least 19 among those killed were burned alive, including three children aged 5, 7 and 16, Klymenko said. Two dozen people are still unaccounted for, he said on national television, and rescuers expect to work at least two more days to complete the search of rubble.

Russia fired 476 strike and decoy drones, as well as 48 missiles of various types, at Ukrainian targets overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. The bombardment included 47 cruise missiles, with air defences intercepting all but six of them, the air force said. Western-supplied F-16 and Mirage-2000 jets intercepted at least 10 cruise missiles, it said.

“Every brazen attack against ordinary life indicates that the pressure on Russia (to stop the war) is insufficient,” Zelenskyy wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

With inputs from agencies