Ukraine reportedly agrees to U.S.-brokered peace proposal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2025.
Alexander Drago | Reuters
Ukraine has reportedly agreed to the framework of a peace deal brokered by the U.S. in what could be a significant first step toward bringing the almost four-year war to an end.
Ukraine reportedly agreed to an amended peace deal during talks that U.S. officials held with a Ukrainian delegation in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. A Russian delegation was also in the UAE capital although it’s uncertain whether joint talks were held.
Reports of an agreement emerged when an unnamed U.S. official told ABC News that “minor details” still need to be resolved but that “the Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal.”
“There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal,” the U.S. official told the news outlet.
A Ukrainian official told Reuters that Ukraine supports the “essence” of a peace deal framework following talks in Geneva last weekend. The official, who was not named, added that the “most sensitive issues” of the framework would be discussed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine has publicly commented on the deal however, and CNBC was unable to confirm the ABC News and Reuters reports.
It’s uncertain whether Moscow will agree to any amended deal.
The Kremlin was tight-lipped about the discussions taking place in Abu Dhabi with Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov telling reporters “we still have nothing to say” and that the Kremlin was “monitoring media reports.”
“We understand that negotiations between the Americans and the Ukrainians are ongoing. We understand that some adjustments are being made to the text that was published; we understand that the text that we unofficially received earlier has already undergone changes, but at some point, the time will probably come when we will also establish contacts with the Americans and we will officially receive some information. For now, we have no new information.”
Amended plans
Ukraine has come under sustained pressure in the last week to agree to a peace plan with Russia after it emerged last week that the U.S. and Moscow had held secret talks and had devised a 28-point peace plan which largely favored Moscow’s demands.
The plan, which Ukraine had not participated in, included controversial terms, including that Ukraine make territorial concessions by handing over the eastern Donbas region that’s partially occupied by Russian forces. The original deal also demanded that Ukraine reduce its army by 50%, as well as other proposals that crossed Ukraine’s “red lines.”
While media reports about the “peace plan” were initially met with a grim silence by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his European allies, some analysts said it amounted to a capitulation to Russia’s maximalist territorial demands.
Meanwhile, Trump issued an ultimatum to Kyiv to respond to the plan by Thursday and Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled his approval of the plan, saying it formed the “basis of a final peace settlement.”
Breaking his silence on the proposals last Friday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was facing one of the most difficult moments in its history and was essentially facing a choice between “losing its dignity or losing a key partner,” referring to the U.S.
