Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Drone assault shuts Russian airports hours earlier than Zelensky-Trump talks on peace deal

A senior US official has claimed that Kyiv has given positive signals Donald Trump’s new peace deal, which demands that Ukraine give up the Donbas and reduce its armed forces, according to a report.

The New York Post reported officials saying they had received “positive feedback” from Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s secretary of the National Security and Defence Council who has been leading Kyiv’s peace delegation, during discussions with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent weeks.

The source said he would not say Ukraine has “full-heartedly… agreed to it and they’re ready to sign off”, but that they “agreed to the majority of the plan”.

“One of the most politically explosive provisions calls for full amnesty for all parties involved in wartime actions, eliminating any future legal claims over battlefield conduct,” the

The outlet reported that one of the provisions calls for full amnesty for al parties involved in wartime actions, therefore eliminating future legal claims – a provision which a senior White House official said was proposed by Kyiv.

Ukraine expects other parties to respect its position as work on studying peace proposals continues with its American partners on the technical level in Kyiv on Friday.

“We are carefully studying all of our partners’ proposals and expect the same proper attitude towards Ukraine’s position,” Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said.

European countries have pushed back against the proposed peace plan. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said any agreement must have European countries and Ukraine itself on board.

Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Ukraine, as the victim in the conflict, should not have restrictions imposed on its ability to defend itself.

Jean-Noel Barrot, the French foreign minister, said: “Ukrainians want peace – a just peace that respects everyone’s sovereignty, a durable peace that can’t be called into question by future aggression. But peace cannot be a capitulation.”

Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said on Thursday that any peace plan for Ukraine cannot be done without Ukraine and the European Union.

A peace plan must also guarantee the existence of a sovereign and democratic Ukrainian state, he told reporters in Brussels before a meeting with his European Union counterparts.

Ukraine’s deputy UN ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn told the UN Security Council that Kyiv has officially received Donald Trump’s draft peace plan and is ready “to work constructively,” but she stressed Ukraine’s “red lines”.

“There will never be any recognition, formal or otherwise, of Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation as Russian,” she said. “Our land is not for sale,” she said, largely rejecting the premise of deal which openly favours Moscow.

“Ukraine will not accept any limits on its right to self-defence or on the size and capabilities of our armed forces, nor will we tolerate any infringement on our sovereignty, including our sovereign right to choose the alliances we want to join,” Hayovyshyn added.

The Kremlin has not yet been informed that Ukraine is ready to hold negotiations around a peace plan proposed by US president Donald Trump, Russia’s RIA state news agency cited it as saying today.

President Donald Trump’s plan for ending the war in Ukraine would cede land to Russia and limit the size of Kyiv’s military, according to a draft obtained yesterday by The Associated Press.

The proposal, originating from negotiations between Washington and Moscow, appeared decidedly favorable to Russia, which started the war nearly four years ago by invading its neighbour.

If past is prologue, it would seem untenable for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who has opposed Trump’s previous calls for territorial concessions.

Russia will rejoin the G7 under Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine, according to a report.

Russia will also be given majority of its frozen assets and freed from Western sanctions, The Telegraph has reported.

Washington has been secretly forming a plan with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The new 28-point plan would consist of “security guarantees, security in Europe, and future US relations with Russia and Ukraine”, officials said.

It comes amid a fresh attempt by the US to force through a peace between Moscow and Kyiv after several diplomatic overtures faltered in recent months.

The Independent had reported earlier on the cash-for-land deal the US is pitching to Ukraine.

The US officials working on a new peace plan could force Ukraine to lease a part of its territory to Russia, people aware of the situation said.

The deal would ask Kyiv to cede control of the eastern Donbas region, while retaining legal ownership of the territory, officials familiar with the deal told The Telegraph.

Russia would pay an undisclosed rental fee for the region, they said. Russian will be the official state language and the Russian orthodox church would be given official status in the occupied territories.

The deal will also slash the size of Ukraine’s military in half and ban them from possessing long-range missiles, the report added.

The deployment of foreign troops will also be blocked under this deal, US military assistance will also cease and foreign diplomatic aircraft will be prevented from landing in the country.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said after talks with a top US Army official that he was ready for “honest” work with Washington on a plan to end the war in Ukraine, while European allies pushed back against punishing concessions to Russia.

Zelensky, whose office said he had received a draft of the plan, said after meeting US army secretary Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv that Ukraine and Washington would work together on elements of it.

“Our teams – Ukraine and the USA – will work on the points of the plan to end the war,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “We are ready for constructive, honest and prompt work.”

Zelensky’s office did not comment directly on the content of the 28-point plan, which has not been officially published, but said he had “outlined the fundamental principles that matter to our people.”

“In the coming days, the president of Ukraine expects to discuss with president Trump the existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points required to achieve peace,” it said.

Donald Trump’s push to end the war could drive a wedge between himself and European leaders, who are likely to oppose any agreement that could be seen as rewarding Russian president Vladimir Putin for his aggression, leaving him emboldened rather than defeated.

For example, the proposal would not only bar Ukraine from joining Nato but would also prevent the alliance’s future expansion. Such a step would be a significant victory for Moscow, which views Nato as a threat.

Putin would also gain ground he has been unable to win on the battlefield. Under the draft, Moscow would hold all the eastern Donbas region, even though approximately 14 per cent still remains in Ukrainian hands. Ukraine’s military, currently at roughly 880,000 troops, would be reduced to 600,000.

The proposal opens the door to lifting sanctions on Russia and returning it to what was formerly known as the Group of Eight, which includes many of the world’s biggest economies.

Russia was suspended from the annual gathering in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea, a strategically important peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea that is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.

At least 33 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted and destroyed over five Russian regions, Crimea and the Black sea overnight, the Russian defence ministry said.

At least eight Russian airports had been forced to suspend operations during the night, according to Russia’s aviation watchdog.

Two people had been injured in the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia and classes at schools and kindergartens had been suspended due to a drone attack, the local emergencies centre said.

In the Rostov region, where seven drones had been downed, an electricity pylon was damaged, leaving over 200 houses without power, Yuri Slyusar, the local governor, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.