WSJ: Ukraine and European partners presented their plan for talks with Putin to the US

European partners and Ukraine responded to Putinʼs ceasefire plan with a counter-proposal on August 9. They said it should serve as a basis for future talks between the US President Donald Trump and Putin to move forward.

This is reported by the WSJ, citing two European officials familiar with the negotiations.

European countries have rejected a Russian offer to hand over Ukrainian-controlled territories of the Donetsk region in exchange for a ceasefire, a demand made at a meeting with senior US officials in London on August 9.

The governments of Ukraine, Britain, Germany and France were quick to respond to the peace proposal that emerged from a meeting between Putin and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin. Following those talks, Trump missed his August 8 deadline for imposing tough secondary sanctions on Russia and agreed to a summit with Putin in Alaska on August 15.

Europeʼs goal is to draw a common red line with Ukraine, which, according to European officials, must be applied to any potential negotiations with Russia.

The European proposal requires that the parties first reach a ceasefire before any other steps are taken. It also states that the exchange of territories can only be done on a reciprocal basis, meaning that if Ukraine withdraws troops from some regions, Russia must withdraw troops from others.

“You can’t start the process by giving up territory in the midst of fighting,” said one European source.

The plan also stipulates that any territorial concessions by Ukraine must be protected by unwavering security guarantees, including Ukraineʼs potential membership in NATO.

The European plan was developed and presented to the Americans by top aides to European leaders, known as “sherpas”. The US Vice President J.D. Vance attended the meeting, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, and Witkoff joined via video link.

According to several officials briefed on Moscowʼs offer, Putin said he would agree to a ceasefire in exchange for Russia handing over the Ukrainian-controlled territory of the Donetsk region. After that, the front line would be frozen.

Several European officials briefed on Witkoffʼs meeting with Putin noted that Putin did not reiterate his initial positions: Ukraine must be demilitarized, the government replaced, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions must be fully under Russian control.

At the meeting with Vance, European officials reiterated that Ukraine’s future cannot be discussed without Ukraine. Regardless of what happens in Washington, Europe will continue to provide Ukraine with weapons and funds, one senior European official said. Some European officials said that if Ukraine hands over all of Donetsk region, Russia would have to withdraw its troops from occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.

• Hours after Putin and Witkoff met on August 6, Trump held a phone call with Zelensky and some leaders of European NATO members to brief them on the offer. During the call, Trump hinted at Russia’s willingness to withdraw troops from the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in exchange for full control of the Donetsk region.
• However, the next day, Witkoff retracted this statement in a phone call with top aides to European leaders, suggesting that Russia would both withdraw troops and freeze the front line.
• Finally, on August 8, European officials requested a third phone call with Witkoff to clear up the growing confusion. In that call, Witkoff made it clear that the only offer on the table was a unilateral withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region in exchange for a ceasefire.

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