The EU indicates it won’t accept the U.S.’s Russia-Ukraine peace deal : NPR
The United States has proposed a peace plan for Russia and Ukraine, but the EU has already indicated it will not accept the deal.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv today. A key element of this meeting was the presentation of a draft peace agreement between the United States and Russia. It calls on Ukraine to cede all lands in the eastern part of the country to Russia. The European Union has already indicated that it is troubled by this project. One official called it a capitulation. NPR’s Tom Bowman is following this and joins us now. Hi.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: Tom, I have to say, this seems to have come out of nowhere. So tell us if you can, how did this draft plan come about?
BOWMAN: Yes, that’s true. It was written recently in Miami by Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his Russian counterpart, businessman Kirill Dmitriev, and was leaked, according to the Americans, by the Russians. I was briefed on parts of the plan by a source not authorized to speak. And once again, the proposal appears to give Russia everything it wants and more. Right now, the Russians control about 88% of the eastern Donbass region, and this proposal, Juana, gives them all of that land.
Additionally, Britain and other European countries planned to send troops to oversee a peace deal. This proposal says that won’t happen. This is one of the reasons why the French foreign minister said that peace cannot be capitulation. And it is likely that other European allies will also balk at this project.
SUMMERS: Well, what about President Zelensky? What did he have to say?
BOWMAN: Well, after the meeting with Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, for about an hour, Zelenskyy issued a rather conciliatory statement, saying that they agreed to work on the provisions of the plan to end the war. Another U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly tells us that Driscoll and Zelensky have agreed — get this — on an aggressive signing timetable. So it seems that all this is moving forward quite quickly, despite the concerns of European allies. But it is important to note that Zelensky has long ruled out any territorial concessions to Russia. It now appears that, thanks to very strong American pressure on him, he finally helped – you know, he’s going to help end this war.
SUMMERS: Tom, as you mentioned, this proposal was written by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. What’s next for him?
BOWMAN: Witkoff is expected to join talks next week in Istanbul with Zelensky and Turkish President Erdogan, which will include not only peace talks but also prisoner exchange talks. Turkey has maintained contacts with Russia and Ukraine, but no Russian representatives are expected to take part in these negotiations. I was also told that Secretary of the Army Driscoll and several U.S. generals may meet with Russian officials in the coming weeks to discuss this proposed peace plan.
SUMMERS: Tom, one thing that stands out here is we have the secretary of the Army in these high-level meetings with the head of state. It’s not, say, Secretary of State Marco Rubio or even Vice President JD Vance. Is this typical?
BOWMAN: No, it’s not. I have never heard of a military service secretary conducting such meetings. Driscoll had already planned to travel to Ukraine to speak with his counterparts about drones and lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. So the White House asked him to help restart peace talks. And the impression is that he could more easily communicate with Ukrainian military officials, talk about their needs, since Driscoll is a veteran of combat in Iraq. He is also Vice President JD Vance’s former roommate at Yale School Law(ph), which also contributed to his profile. I’m told they talk almost every day. And by the way, Juana, there’s a lot of speculation going around that if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth leaves, Driscoll could be put in charge of the Pentagon.
SUMMERS: One last thing, quickly, Tom, you mentioned that the war is almost into its fourth year. What is the situation on the ground currently?
BOWMAN: Well, Russia is hitting Ukraine, including kyiv, with rockets and drones. Russian troops are advancing in the East. It’s been a war of attrition for a long time. I recently asked a Western diplomat what would be the best scenario for Ukraine? And he said, freezing the battle lines to the east. But again, this proposal gives all eastern lands to Russia.
SUMMERS: NPR’s Tom Bowman, thank you.
BOWMAN: You’re welcome.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the terms of use and permissions pages on our website at www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. The text of the transcript may be edited to correct errors or match updates to the audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio recording.
