Ukraine and the United States have agreed on an updated 20-point peace proposal aimed at ending the war with Russia, as Moscow was struck by another deadly bombing, the second such
attack in three days.
The revised plan includes robust security guarantees for Ukraine, EU membership prospects, and provisions allowing Kyiv to maintain an army of up to 800,000 personnel. It also introduces a controversial proposal under which eastern Ukrainian territories seized by Russia could be designated as free economic zones.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the creation of a “demilitarised zone or a free economic zone” could offer a way out of the long-running stalemate over the future of the Donbas region. Russia has claimed the entire area, including territory it does not control, a position Ukraine has repeatedly rejected as unacceptable.
Details of the plan emerged on Wednesday, the same day two police officers were killed in a bombing in Moscow. The attack followed the killing of a senior Russian general earlier in the week.
Ukraine has not confirmed responsibility for the incidents, though it has previously acknowledged carrying out targeted assassinations inside Russia. Analysts say the attacks may be intended to shift the balance in peace talks by demonstrating Kyiv’s ability to strike within Russian territory.
The revised proposal was made public following US-Ukraine talks held in Miami. Mr Zelenskyy described the US suggestion of free economic zones as a “potential option” for a sovereign Ukrainian state, but said any such arrangement would require approval through a national referendum.
Free economic zones typically operate under different legal frameworks from the rest of a country, often featuring lower taxes and looser customs and regulatory rules.
Mr Zelenskyy said negotiators from Washington and Kyiv had “significantly brought most of the positions closer together,” but acknowledged that deep disagreements remain over territorial issues. He said he was seeking a direct meeting with former US president Donald Trump, arguing that unresolved “sensitive issues” required discussion at the highest political level.
Another unresolved matter is the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest. The United States has proposed that it be managed by an international consortium involving Ukraine and Russia, with Washington acting as a key partner.
The updated peace plan also includes Article 5-style security protections intended to deter future Russian aggression.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would formulate its response based on information provided by envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met US officials in Florida over the weekend. Previous talks involving US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin earlier this month failed to yield a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to come under heavy attack. Earlier this week, Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the nearly four-year war, firing more than 600 drones and dozens of missiles. While most were intercepted, at least three people, including a child, were killed, and strikes on the power grid caused widespread outages.
In a Christmas message released on Wednesday, President Zelenskyy sought to rally national unity, saying Russia could not “occupy or bomb what matters most.”
“Despite all the suffering that Russia has brought, it is not capable of occupying our Ukrainian heart, our faith in one another, and our unity,” he said, adding that Ukrainians across the country were marking Christmas “as one big family.” Photo by Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Wikimedia commons.