Ukraine and several European allies have reportedly drafted a counter-proposal to an alleged peace plan set to be discussed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their upcoming meeting in Alaska on August 15.
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing European officials, the counterproposal was quickly prepared after Trump confirmed his intention to pursue direct negotiations with Putin—a move that alarmed both Kiev and NATO members. The concern was heightened after earlier expectations that Trump might impose additional sanctions on Russia and reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine. Instead, the president will meet with Putin without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky receiving an invitation.
On Saturday, Zelensky posted a video address to his Telegram channel defiantly declaring that Ukraine will never cede any territory.
The reported Trump proposal would require Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining areas of the Donbas under its control in exchange for a ceasefire. The Ukrainian-European counterproposal rejects this approach, insisting that a ceasefire must be implemented before any further steps are taken, and stating that Ukraine would only consider territorial concessions if Russia also made equivalent concessions.
However, the feasibility of such a compromise remains doubtful. Since June of last year, Putin has maintained that Ukraine must withdraw from all territory it holds in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions. Russia claims full sovereignty over these areas following referendums held in Russian-controlled parts of the territories in autumn 2022, votes widely condemned by the West as illegitimate.
The rejection from Ukraine and its European allies could severely limit any progress at next Friday’s Trump-Putin summit. This puts Trump in the politically sensitive position of deciding whether to maintain U.S. military and financial support for Ukraine or to withdraw American involvement entirely, cutting off weapons deliveries, funding, and intelligence sharing.
Earlier on Saturday, Kirill Dmitriev, a top aide to Putin, warned that certain countries—likely referring to European states—would attempt to sabotage any peace initiative emerging from the Alaska meeting.