ReutersUkraine is preparing to present a revised peace plan to the White House as it seeks to avoid making territorial concessions to Russia.
kyiv is set to propose alternatives to the United States after President Volodymyr Zelensky again ruled out handing over land, saying he had “no right” to do so under Ukrainian or international law.
He made the comments as he met with European and NATO leaders on Monday, part of a collective effort to dissuade the United States from backing a peace deal that includes major concessions for Ukraine, and which allies fear will leave it vulnerable to a future invasion.
Meanwhile, the city of Sumy in northwestern Ukraine was left without power overnight after a Russian drone attack.
The region’s governor said more than a dozen drones had attacked electrical infrastructure, the latest in Russia’s overnight attacks. No deaths were reported.
Zelensky’s current diplomatic tour of Europe comes after days of intense talks between American and Ukrainian negotiators over the weekend, which failed to produce a deal that kyiv could accept.
Zelensky was due to be briefed on that private summit on Monday by his top adviser, Rustem Umerov, who wrote on Telegram that he would provide details of direct talks between the United States and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian president told a news conference that his team could send a new proposal to the Americans on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported.
On the issue of handing over land, Zelensky said: “Russia insists that we give up territory, but we don’t want to give up anything.”
He continued: “We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we have no moral right either.”
Zelensky has long maintained that any changes to Ukraine’s borders would have to be authorized by a public referendum.
Separately, he told reporters that the initial 28-point plan proposed by the United States – and rejected by kyiv and European leaders as being too favorable to Russia – had been reduced to 20 points, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
He said no “pro-Ukrainian” points had been removed from the draft, although there was also no “compromise” on the territory issue.
Zelensky highlighted the control of the eastern region of Donbass and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant among the “most sensitive” issues.
The original leaked version of the US-backed plan proposed that Ukraine hand over full control of the Donbas to Russia, even though Kremlin forces have failed to fully capture it after nearly four years of war.
Power produced at Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, would be split between Russia and Ukraine, according to the draft plan.
Leaders in kyiv and across Europe have indicated that there has been progress in refining that draft in recent weeks and have praised the Trump administration for trying to mediate to end the fighting.
But the hastily arranged Downing Street summit on Monday, attended by Zelensky, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, was widely seen as a show of support for Ukraine as it seeks to resist pressure from the White House.
No 10 said there had been agreement that the US-led talks represented a “critical moment” to increase support for Ukraine, and repeated calls for a “just and lasting peace… including strong security guarantees”.
EPAThe nature of these future security guarantees is another open question in the negotiations.
Efforts are continuing to form an international coalition prepared to offer continued military support to kyiv should a peace deal be reached, although it is not yet clear what form that would take.
While the United Kingdom and France have proposed deploying international troops to Ukraine, several key defense players in Europe, including Germany and Italy, have expressed skepticism about that idea.
It is also unclear to what extent the United States would be willing to support future defense deals for Ukraine.
Following talks in London, Zelensky flew to Brussels to meet with NATO chief Mark Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, and will meet Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in Italy on Tuesday.
Moscow has also claimed that talks with the White House have been constructive, despite few public signs that it has made progress on any of the goals set by the Kremlin when it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
On Sunday, Trump indicated that he viewed Zelensky as the main obstacle to securing a peace deal, something he has made a key foreign policy goal and which the president said he could achieve quickly during the 2024 presidential election campaign.
He told reporters that Russia was “fine” with the peace plan outlined by the United States for both sides, but that he was “a little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t read it.” It was unclear if that was the case.
