Russian would become the official state language in the occupied territory, and the Russian Orthodox Church would gain official status.
The White House declined to comment on the details of the plan or how it came about. However, a senior Trump administration official told NBC News that Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner were involved in developing the plan.
Trump even sent two top military officials to Kiev - Secretary of the Army at the US Department of Defense Dan Driscoll and General Randy George. They presented the plan to the Ukrainian leadership on Thursday. They will also outline it to NATO allies in the coming days.
Although Ukrainians consider such terms a capitulation and steadfastly reject most of them, Zelensky announced Thursday after presenting the plan that he would discuss with the U.S. president in the coming days "the key points necessary to achieve peace."
Europe left out
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday avoided detailed comments on the US peace plan, which has not yet been made public.
But they made clear they would not accept demands for tough concessions from Kiev.
"Ukrainians want peace - a just peace that respects the sovereignty of all, a lasting peace that cannot be challenged by future aggression," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. "But peace cannot be capitulation," he added.
European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said the European Union welcomes efforts aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, but any such plan must involve both Ukraine and Europe and be agreed by both actors.
This is precisely what has not happened, according to several sources.
Zelensky is weakened
A senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Kiev had no role in drafting Trump's 28-point peace plan.
Anonymous sources at several leading global media outlets concluded that Trump gave Zelensky no choice because he perceived that the president was weakened on the domestic political scene.
Both Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchukova have already had to resign as a result of the corruption scandal at the state energy firm Enerhoatom.
The theft, worth at least a hundred million dollars, goes back to Zelensky's inner circle. The ringleader of the entire network, according to the allegations, is the president's acquaintance and businessman Timur Mindich, who fled to Israel just hours before prosecutors raided his home.
In addition, it is speculated that the name of Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Jermak is also mentioned in recordings held by the NABU anti-corruption agency in the case. In the past, Mindic has called Jermak "his friend". Even members of the president's Servant of the Nation party are already calling for Jermak to quit.
Ukrainians are angry about this - ordinary citizens are suffering heat cuts because money intended to buy air defence for power substations has ended up in the pockets of private individuals, and desertions are rising in the army.
Trump also has another powerful lever - the state of the Ukrainian economy.
If the European Union does not approve a loan to Ukraine of 140 billion euros from frozen Russian assets, Ukraine will not have the money to fill its $60 billion budget hole next year.
A number of states, including Belgium, in whose custody the Russian assets are held, are opposed to their confiscation because they fear the legal consequences. Hungary and Slovakia, for their part, warn that it is wasteful to give so much money to a state that is failing in its fight against corruption.
The Kremlin has not backed down from the demands
The Kremlin said on Thursday that it was not negotiating any peace plan with the United States. Asked whether Vladimir Putin had been informed of the alleged 28-point peace plan, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "I have nothing to add to what I have already said".
He stressed that any peace plan must lead to the elimination of the root causes of the conflict. Translated, this means that Ukraine must give up the Donbas and its ambitions to join NATO, accept permanent neutrality and reduce its armed forces. All these conditions are rejected by Kiev.
It is precisely because of the intransigence of both states that the date of the Budapest summit between Russia and the US has been postponed. Trump said at the time that he did not want to waste time on negotiations that would not result in an agreement. In fact, he was inclined to the view that a ceasefire should be negotiated on the basis of the current front lines.
The situation on the frontline does not favour Ukraine
A fourth winter is approaching, which will be particularly difficult for Ukraine due to severe frosts and a destroyed energy infrastructure.
Russia is occupying almost a fifth of Ukraine, advancing on the front line and, according to several sources, is approaching the complete occupation of Pokrovsk. Moscow claims that this will lead to further successes on the battlefield and therefore has no reason to end the fighting without major concessions.
Kiev, for its part, argues that the Russian advances are of limited strategic significance but that it lacks the personnel and weapons capacity to stop them.
(reuters, est)
