Senior U.S. military officials arrived in Kyiv on Thursday as European leaders voiced alarm over reports of a new, unconfirmed peace proposal said to be circulating between Washington and Moscow; one that could demand sweeping concessions from Ukraine, according to BBC News.
The delegation, led by U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and is expected to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky later in the day. It marks the highest-level U.S. military visit to Ukraine since President Donald Trump took office in January.
Their arrival comes as multiple reports suggest that Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev drafted a 28-point framework that would require Ukraine to surrender remaining territory in the Donbas, dramatically reduce its armed forces, and forgo key weapons systems. Neither the White House nor the Kremlin has confirmed the plan.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that a “durable peace” would require “difficult but necessary concessions,” and said Washington was gathering ideas to end the war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed “contacts” with the U.S. but denied any ongoing negotiations.
European officials reacted sharply. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas insisted any workable proposal must include Ukraine and Europe, while France’s foreign minister warned that Ukrainians “do not want any form of capitulation.” Kyiv was not involved in drafting the reported plan, fueling fears that the terms could tilt heavily toward Russian interests.
After meeting Driscoll’s team, Ukraine’s prime minister said only that the visit allowed U.S. officials to assess the “consequences of Russian aggression.” A Ukrainian official told CBS the talks would center on battlefield realities and potential ceasefire planning, noting that Presidents Zelensky and Trump had already discussed halting the conflict along current front lines.
The reports surfaced the same day a Russian missile and drone barrage struck the western city of Ternopil, killing at least 26 people and leaving 22 missing.
Despite the swirling speculation, the U.S. delegation publicly framed its visit as a fact finding mission focused on ending the war, not on advancing any specific peace blueprint.
