A senior aide to Russian president Vladimir Putin has dismissed the European Union’s peace proposal for Ukraine, signaling the Kremlin’s preference for a U.S.-led framework. Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow that the EU plan “constructively doesn’t fit us at all,” while the proposal from U.S. president Donald Trump was considered more “acceptable.”
The U.S. initiative included sweeping territorial concessions, security arrangements and prompted urgent negotiations in Geneva over the weekend involving Washington, Kyiv, and European representatives. After the negotiations, the White House said that Kyiv was satisfied with the jointly revised version of the peace plan, noting that Ukrainian representatives believe the draft offers “short-and long-term, credible and enforceable mechanisms to protect Ukrainian security.”
Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov stated that the revised version of the U.S. plan “although still in the final stages of approval, already reflects most of Ukraine’s key priorities.”
The new document includes enhanced security guarantees: protection for infrastructure, a framework for economic recovery, and commitments ensuring political sovereignty and freedom of navigation.
The EU also produced its own counterproposal, but only after the U.S. plan gained traction, having previously devoted much of its effort to funding the conflict rather than pursuing a negotiated outcome. The European version—drafted by Britain, France, and Germany—allows Ukraine to maintain its current territory and raises its permitted military size from 600,000 to 800,000 in peacetime.
It also includes a security guarantee modeled on NATO’s Article 5 and calls for frozen Russian assets to remain blocked until full compensation is secured.
French president Emmanuel Macron described the U.S. plan as a step “in the right direction” with “elements” worthy of discussion, but cautioned against any Ukrainian “capitulation.”
Meanwhile, U.S. army secretary Dan Driscoll held unannounced talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi today, on November 25th, as part of an intensified effort to bridge remaining gaps and finalize a viable settlement. He was also expected to meet with Ukrainian officials while in Abu Dhabi, though the exact nature of the talks was not immediately clear.
