KYIV/WASHINGTON: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s top security official denied on Friday he had agreed to the outline of a Trump administration peace plan, after US officials said he had accepted most of its terms.
Washington has presented Kyiv with a 28-point plan that would endorse many of Russia’s main demands, requiring Kyiv to give up additional territory, cut back the size of its military and forever abandon hope of joining the NATO western alliance.
US officials said the plan was drafted after consultations with Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, who served as defense minister until July and is a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“This plan was drawn up immediately following discussions with one of the most senior members of President Zelensky’s administration, Rustem Umerov, who agreed to the majority of the plan, after making several modifications, and presented it to President Zelensky,” a senior US official said on Thursday.
But Umerov said on Friday he had not discussed the plan’s terms, much less approved them.
