Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready for ‘clear and honest work’ on peace proposals
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukraine was “geared up for clear and honest work” as he pledged to engage with US peace proposals — without disrupting ongoing diplomatic efforts.
“Ukraine needs peace and Ukraine will do everything so that no one in the world can say we are upending diplomacy. This is important,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, but said Kyiv would issue no “rash” statements.
“The number one task for everyone … is a constructive diplomatic process with America and all our partners,” he continued. “It is vital to have stable support for our army and all our planned defense operations and deep strikes.”
After having a “very serious conversation” with a “high-level [US] delegation,” Zelenskyy said: “The American side presented points of a plan to end the war — their vision. And I outlined our key principles: a real peace which will not be broken by a third invasion, a dignified peace with terms which respect our independence.”
The American side presented points of a plan to end the war—their vision. I outlined our key principles. We agreed that our teams will work on the points to ensure it’s all genuine.
We’re geared up for clear and honest work—Ukraine, the U.S., our European and global partners. pic.twitter.com/DscaCBg4vW
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 20, 2025
EU must help craft peace plan, former Ukraine PM tells DW
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk tells DW why Kyiv insists on EU involvement in any peace deal with Russia, even as US President Donald Trump has apparently backed a fresh proposal seemingly giving in to Moscow’s demands.
Russian commanders claim capture of Kupiansk
Senior Russian army commanders on Thursday claimed that their troops had captured the small Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, 120 kilometers (75 miles) away from the major city of Kharkiv in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Sergei Kuzovlev, commander of Russia’s western troop grouping, told President Vladimir Putin in televised comments that Russian forces has “completed the liberation of the city of Kupiansk,” which he described as a “key cog in Ukraine’s defenses.”
The chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, added that Russian troops were “continuing to destroy Ukrainian armed forces units surrounded on the left bank of the Oskil River.”
Kupiansk, which had a pre-war population of around 55,000, is a key road and rail hub and has been on the frontline ever since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. It initially fell to Russian forces on the first day of the offensive but was recaptured in a Ukrainian counter-offensive a few months later and has since become an important logistical hub for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military on Thursday evening denied that Kupiansk had been captured.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that President Putin had “visited one of the command posts for the western troop grouping and held a meeting with the chief of staff.” It wasn’t clear whether the command post was in Russia or in occupied Ukraine.
Putin was reportedly briefed on the military situation in the cities of Kramatorsk, Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk, key Ukrainian strongholds further south in the Donetsk region. General Gerasimov claimed that Russian forces now control 70% of Pokrovsk, a claim the Ukrainian armed forces described as “false.”
Kyiv ‘ready to work’ on US peace plan
The Ukrainian government said on Thursday that it was prepared to engage with what it called “draft” proposals drawn up by the United States to end the ongoing Russian invasion .
But other senior officials in Kyiv have alled the suggestions “absurd” and a “provocation.”
“The President of Ukraine has officially received a draft plan from the American side which, according to the American side’s assessment, could invigorate diplomacy,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said in a statement.
“We are ready now to work constructively with the American side and our partners in Europe and around the world to achieve peace as the result.”
In a post on Telegram after meeting with US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian and US teams would “work on the points of the plan to end the war.”
The precise proposals have not been published but media outlets including the AFP news agency have reported that the plan echoes many of Russia’s most maximalist demands for ending the war, including the ceding of territory which is still controlled by Ukraine.
Following a meeting with US army officials in Kyiv, Zelenskyy’s office said, “it was agreed to work on the plan’s points to ensure a dignified end to the war,” but other senior Ukrainian figures dismissed the proposals.
“There is nothing concrete about this next ‘peace plan,'” said Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign policy, telling the Ukrainian Interfax news agency that the suggestions were “a Russian provocation to disorient Ukraine’s allies and stir up society.”
He accused US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin representative Kirill Dmitriev, who have reportedly drawn up the proposals, of “putting forward this absurd plan just to remind people of their existence and pretend that they are doing something.”
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, dismissed suggestions of peace proposals as “unrealistic.”
Ukraine briefed on peace plan, White House says
Senior officials from the Trump administration met in recent days with representatives of the Ukrainian government to discuss a fresh peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
Reports emerged this week that a new proposal was being negotiated between Washington and Moscow without Kyiv’s involvement, which would reportedly entail Ukraine having to cede territory currently occupied by Russia.
Leavitt told a press conference that the plan, which has been backed by US President Donald Trump, is “good for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe that it should be acceptable to both sides.”
The White House spokesperson added that the plan is “ongoing and it’s in flux.”
Leavitt also said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff were involved in the discussions.
Wadephul discusses peace plans with Witkoff, Fidan
German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul said he held a phonecall with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Wadephul discussed “our various current efforts to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and thus finally put an end to the immeasurable human suffering,” the foreign minister said in a statement.
“Both colleagues emphasized the importance of close coordination with Germany and our European partners, which we are fulfilling at all levels,” he added.
Wadephul said that winter now setting in, attacks on energy infrastructure must come to a halt in order to shield civilians from the cold. Following that, talks on a permanent ceasefire must be held without delay, Germany’s top diplomat said.
Wadephul’s statement comes amid reports that the US and Russia have agreed on a peace proposal for the war in Ukraine, which would reportedly require Ukraine to cede large swathes of territory.
The reports have prompted concerns from Kyiv and its European allies, who have repeatedly insisted that any peace deal must be approved by Ukraine and the EU.
Kallas: EU’s plan is to ‘weaken Russia and support Ukraine’
The EU’s foreign policy and security chief Kaja Kallas has responded to reports that the US and Russia have agreed on a peace plan for the war in Ukraine.
After meeting with Kyiv representatives and EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday, Kallas said the EU has a “two-point plan” to end the war.
That plan, Kallas said, consists of weakening Russia and supporting Ukraine.
“If Russia really wanted peace they would have accepted the unconditional ceasefire offer already in March,” Kallas stressed.
“Russia has repeatedly paid lip service for peace talks and previous talks fell apart because Russia never made real commitments,” she said, adding that “the pressure must be on the aggressor, not the victim.”
Kallas also said that to that end the EU plans to impose more sanctions on Russia. In particular, the EU will continue to go after Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of vessels and its enablers.
“The data is very clear, the export of Russian crude oil is the lowest it has been in months. Russian tax revenues from oil are the lowest since the war started,” Kallas said, claiming that sanctions against Russia are working.
Ukraine says 1,000 bodies repatriated by Russia
Ukraine has said it received 1,000 bodies of what Russia said were fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
“Investigators from law enforcement bodies, together with expert agencies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will soon conduct all necessary examinations and identify the repatriated bodies,” Kyiv’s prisoner-of-war coordination center said on Telegram.
The returning of the bodies of dead military servicemen is a rare occasion of cooperation between the two sides.
There have been numerous swaps conducted since the war began, although Kyiv has accused Moscow of returning bodies in a disorderly way and even of sometimes sending the bodies of Russian soldiers, which Moscow has denied.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-ready-to-work-with-us-on-plan-to-end-war/live-74814350
