Zelenskyy Engages U.S. Military Brass in Kyiv Amid Reports of Concessions-Filled Peace Blueprint
In a pivotal moment for Ukraine’s wartime diplomacy, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to hold talks with senior Pentagon representatives in the capital on Thursday, even as whispers of a U.S.-brokered strategy to conclude the conflict on Moscow’s preferred terms gain traction.
The discussions, announced by Zelenskyy’s office, occur against a tense backdrop: just one day prior, Steve Witkoff—emissary for U.S. President Donald Trump—abruptly canceled a scheduled sit-down with the Ukrainian leader during a gathering in Turkey. The no-show dealt a setback to Kyiv’s efforts to revive high-level negotiations and draw Washington back into leveraging pressure on Russia to cease its incursion, now stretching into its third year.
Compounding the strain, the itinerary follows closely on the heels of a devastating Russian assault that claimed at least 26 lives in what ranks among the Kremlin’s most lethal barrages on Ukrainian soil this year.
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Leading the American contingent is U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, whose team touched down in Kyiv on Wednesday. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko hosted Driscoll earlier Thursday, framing the trip as a vital chance for the visitors to gauge frontline realities and observe the tangible toll of Russian belligerence up close.
Zelenskyy’s communications aide, Dmytro Lytvyn, confirmed to reporters that the president intends to join the group personally. The delegation had already convened with Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal late Wednesday, laying groundwork for the broader exchange.
Such high-profile U.S. delegations have grown scarce in Ukraine since Trump’s January inauguration, signaling a chill in bilateral military ties amid shifting geopolitical winds.
Reports from U.S. media outlets indicate that Washington and Moscow have quietly advanced a framework aimed at wrapping up the protracted hostilities, ignited by Russia’s full-scale offensive in 2022. An insider versed in the preliminary outlines shared with AFP that the blueprint demands Kyiv relinquish swaths of territory and slash its military ranks by over 50%—provisions that effectively spell out surrender.
The Kremlin offered no response to the disclosures when pressed. Neither Washington nor Kyiv has issued any official statements regarding the alleged accord.