US to push Russia's 'maximalist terms,' ask Ukraine to cede territory, halve army: Report

The United States is set to ask Ukraine to cede major land and slice its army by more than half, according to a report citing people in the know. The new US peace proposal, as per the AFP report, echoes Russia's own maximalist terms. It surfaced on the same day a Russian strike hit the western city of Ternopil, killing 26 people, including three children. While Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike, saying the victims were people asleep in their homes, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was appalled by the civilian toll.

What does the new Russia-Ukraine peace proposal propose?

It calls for "recognition of Crimea and other regions that the Russians have taken", cutting Ukraine’s armed forces to roughly 400,000 personnel, and giving up all long-range weapons. The official who chose to stay anonymous said it was unclear whether the plan came directly from President Donald Trump or from people around him. "An important nuance is that we don't understand whether this is really Trump's story" or "his entourage's".

At the same time, there is no clarity either on what Russia would offer in return. Previously, Axios reported that Moscow and Washington had been working on a secret plan to end the almost four-year-war. However, neither country has confirmed.

Zelensky in Türkiye

The diplomatic confusion landed just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Turkey, hoping to draw Washington back into the peace process. Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff who was expected to be there, however, skipped the talks.

At the same time, US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll led a Pentagon team to Kyiv for meetings with senior Ukrainian officials. Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrsky, said the talks were productive and stressed that air defence, long-range strike capability, and said: ""I once again stressed that reinforcing the protection of Ukraine’s airspace, expanding our long-range strike capabilities against enemy military targets and maintaining and stabilising the front line will undermine the offensive potential of the adversary."