Trump’s Ukraine peace plan trimmed to 19 points to drop Luhansk, Donetsk surrender — What's in it?

The United States and Ukraine have worked to bridge their differences over Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan to end the war, after Washington agreed to revise the earlier plan that Kyiv had criticised as highly favourable to Moscow. Following the revision, Washington and Kyiv described the new draft as a “refined peace framework.”

After the Geneva meeting, Zelensky said, “As of now, after Geneva, there are fewer points – no longer 28 – and many of the right elements have been taken into account in this framework. Our team has reported on the new draft of steps, and this is indeed the right approach – I will discuss the sensitive issues with President Trump.”

What does the new 19-point plan say?

The plan, reduced from 28 provisions to 19, has dropped one of the most contentious elements of Trump's peace proposal – a requirement that Ukraine surrender Luhansk and Donetsk, parts of the Donbas, to Russia, according to the New York Post.

Ukraine has called the provision to cede the Luhansk and Donetsk territories to Russia unacceptable.

Reports suggest US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, will meet at a later date to sort out the territorial issue.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has, meanwhile, asserted that although Trump wants to seal the deal quickly and has set a Thanksgiving Day deadline, no meeting is currently scheduled between the two leaders.

Also Read | What changes for Putin and Zelensky in Trump's 28-point peace plan?

Media reports indicate that the new 19-point plan removes another controversial clause, requiring Ukraine to give up its hopes of joining NATO for peace with Russia to prevail.

Zelensky has indicated that the updated plan now includes “correct” points – suggesting his government may be working to shape the proposal more favourably for Ukraine. 

The old 28-point plan

The original 28-point peace proposal had caught many in the US government, Kyiv, and Europe off guard, raising concerns that the Trump administration might push Ukraine into a peace deal heavily tilted toward Russia.

Countering the Trump-backed blueprint of the plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, European allies of Zelensky drew up a counter-proposal, suggesting an end to fighting at the present front lines, and including a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine.

Moscow rejected it. “The European plan, at first glance ... is completely unconstructive and does not work for us,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said.

The old plan mentioned “recognition of Crimea and other regions [Luhansk and Donetsk] that the Russians have taken”, Ukraine cutting down its military to more than half, to 400,000-600,000 personnel, Kyiv giving up all long-range weapons, and no NATO security to Ukraine.

It also proposed stationing European fighter jets in Poland, with provisions that if Russia invaded Ukraine again, “all global sanctions will be reinstated, recognition of the new territory and all other benefits of this deal will be revoked.”

As for territories, “Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian, including by the United States”, and “Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be frozen along the line of contact”.

Russia would also be required to relinquish other territories it controls outside the five regions.

(With agency inputs)