The U.S. proposes a demilitarized zone in Donbas. Kyiv refuses to surrender territory. Putin insists it was Russia’s all along.

The new U.S. peace plan calls for creating a demilitarized zone in Donbas, The Economist reported, citing Ukrainian officials. The plan also reportedly envisions Ukraine abandoning its bid to join NATO in exchange for an investment program and European Union membership. Russia would be offered eased sanctions and a partial restoration of ties with the West, possibly including a resumption of gas supplies to Europe and the restart of the Nord Stream pipelines. The Economist said these are only the outlines of the plan, and the details of the discussions remain unknown.Kyiv reacted without enthusiasm to Steve Witkoff’s last meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo, a source close to the Ukrainian president’s office told Meduza. The reason, according to the source, is that Russia continues to insist on recognition of its control over the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, including territories it has not captured. The source told Meduza that along the line of contact, Kyiv is ready for a cease-fire “as soon as today,” but added, “we have a consensus: Ukraine does not give up its territories.”Vladimir Putin commented on the state of the negotiations for the first time. In an interview with Pavel Zarubin, he confirmed that Moscow agrees to resume “trilateral contacts” and said their purpose would be to discuss security issues for both Ukraine and Russia, “and in a final form, not as a result of a pause in hostilities.” On the subject of territorial concessions by Ukraine, Putin said: “This is not their territory, it is the territory of historical Russia. So talking about any territorial losses seems inappropriate to me.”Europe is considering five candidates for the role of negotiator with Putin, The Telegraph reported. They are Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Czech President Petr Pavel, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Norway is not an EU member). According to the newspaper’s sources, Brussels might send not just one but several people to the negotiations, which would help avoid internal competition between countries.War in photos. Zaporizhzhia regionAt Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.