EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday Kiev and Europe needed to be involved in any Ukraine peace plan, as the U.S. pushes a new proposal that appears to repeat Russia's demands.
"For any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board," Kallas told reporters ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
"We have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim. So we haven't heard of any concessions on the Russian side."
A source familiar with the U.S. proposal told AFP on Nov. 19 that it would see Kiev ceding land to Moscow and more than halving its army.
American media outlet Axios earlier reported Moscow and Washington had been working on the secret plan to end the almost four-year war.
The source told AFP it was unclear if the proposals were backed by U.S. President Donald Trump personally.
Kallas said that as far as she knew there had been no input from Ukraine or its European backers.
"We welcome all meaningful efforts to end this war, but like we have said before it has to be just and lasting," she said.
"If Russia really wanted peace it could have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire already."
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot insisted that peace in Ukraine could not mean "capitulation" for Kiev.
"Discussions are needed for us to reach a just and durable peace in Ukraine, they should start with a ceasefire on the contact line that allows for orderly discussions on the question of territories and security," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's efforts to re-engage the Trump administration in the peace process during a visit to Türkiye fell flat after an American envoy thought to be joining him did not make the trip.
The draft U.S. peace proposal provides for "recognition of Crimea and other regions that the Russians have taken" and "reduction of the army to 400,000 personnel," the source told AFP.
Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, much of it ravaged by fighting.
It was "unclear" what Russia was supposed to do in return, according to the source.
At the same time, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll arrived in Kiev, leading a high-profile Pentagon delegation to meet Ukrainian officials and find ways to settle the conflict, U.S. broadcaster CBS News said, citing the U.S. military. Driscoll met Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmygal on Nov. 19.
Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrsky said he had held a "productive" meeting with the U.S. delegation.
Meanwhile, Zelensky said yesterday that 22 people were still missing in the western city of Ternopil, a day after a Russian strike there killed at least 26 people, including three children.
In one of the deadliest strikes on western Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, a missile ripped off the top floors of a block of flats in the city, with rescuers struggling to search for survivors amid the rubble.
"All night long, our rescuers worked in Ternopil, and search-and-rescue operations are still ongoing. Twenty-two people are still missing," Zelensky said on social media.
