A peace deal between Ukraine and Russia still has yet to be reached. US and Ukrainian officials met for talks in Florida on November 30 after US President Donald Trump’s administration last week proposed a 28-point peace plan which some European countries criticized as caving in to Russian demands for Ukraine to give up large amounts of territory, limit its military, and abandon efforts to join NATO.

The amended plan now includes 19 points, and US Secretary of State Marc Rubio said after the talks that there was still “much work to do” on the proposal, as quoted by Cassandra Vinograd in The New York Times. Rubio and Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation after the resignation of former chief of staff Andriy Yermak, both described the talks as productive, although they did not provide further details.

One potential difference between the original proposal and the revised proposal is the number of personnel allowed in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The original proposal capped this number at 600,000. While the new proposal is not publicly available, reports say a potential part of the revised proposal is capping this number at 800,000. The original proposal would require Ukraine to hand over the remaining land it controls in Donetsk and Luhansk. Reports say that a potential part of the revised proposal is requiring Ukraine to commit to not recovering occupied sovereign territory through military means, but through negotiations. The original proposal would not allow Ukraine to join NATO, however, reports say that another potential part of the revised proposal is that Ukraine’s Nato membership will depend on the consensus of the alliance’s members.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 30 that he had received a preliminary report from the delegation in Florida. Zelensky stated on social media that “It is important that the talks have a constructive dynamic and that all issues were discussed openly and with a clear focus on ensuring Ukraine’s sovereignty and national interests.”

Zelensky said that after the revisions, the peace proposal “looks better,” however, The European Union (EU)’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned however that talks between Putin and Witkoff would again pile pressure on Ukraine to make concessions. 

Meanwhile, violence continues. Dan Sabbagh and Jane Clinton reported in The Guardian on November 29 that Russian attacks on Ukraine had killed six people and wounded dozens. On December 2, Al Jazeera reported that Russian attacks in Dnipro had killed four and injured 40.

Amidst the high-stakes meetings, Zelensky is seeking support from European allies. On December 1, Zelensky met with French president Emmanuel Macron, who stressed Europe’s commitment to supporting Ukraine, saying that only Ukraine could decide whether to cede any territory. Zelensky said that territory is the most complicated topic, and Macron said that there was “no finalized peace plan to speak of at this time,” as quoted by Vinograd.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with Putin in Moscow on December 2 to discuss the revised proposal. Putin said ahead of the meeting that Russia would continue to advance against Ukraine on the battlefield. 

Both sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks, which lasted nearly five hours. However, Putin aide Yury Ushakov said the meeting was “constructive” although no compromise was reached. Ushakov noted that the idea of Ukraine territorial concessions and Russia-US economic cooperation were points of discussion in the meeting. Moscow-based NPR correspondent Charles Maynes reports that while Russia agreed to some points of the US plan, it disagreed with others.

Ukrainian troops say they doubt the proposed pact with Russia will bring lasting peace, as they believe that Russia remains determined to conquer Ukraine. 

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been 53,006 civilian casualties, including 14,534 deaths, according to the UN. The UN notes that frontline communities remain the most at risk, particularly in the Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk regions, accounting for 65 percent of deaths and injuries.

Keywords: Ukraine, Russia, war, conflict, conflict resolution, peace, peace deal, proposal, 28-point proposal, Putin, Zelensky, US

Tara Abhasakun

Tara Abhasakun is Peace News Network (PNN)’s managing editor. She is journalist based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and formerly in Bangkok, Thailand. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara’s work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.