The US and Europe are drafting a four-point plan to end the war in Ukraine that would freeze the fighting on the current front line, The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported.
Rebuilding Ukraine would be the first pillar. The World Bank and BlackRock would design financing to rebuild devastated regions, support soldiers’ families and restart the economy. Negotiators have asked Kyiv for detailed cost estimates and guarantees against the money being looted.
The second pillar would be security guarantees, with the US and European countries committing to a military response if Russia attacks again. A US official likened this to Nato’s Article 5. Russia would also negotiate with Europe over its own “security concerns”, though what Moscow would be offered is unclear.
“A third pillar would be economic integration of Russia, Ukraine and Europe through an energy deal. One aspect might be a pipeline carrying Russian oil and gas to Europe, with Ukraine and Russia splitting the profits,” Ignatius wrote. The deal would give Russia long-term access to the European energy market and set out when sanctions would be lifted.
The fourth pillar would be a ceasefire along the existing front line, leaving Russia in de facto control of the land it holds, including much of Donbas, without legal recognition.
The plan carries the same economic carrots as the 28-point plan Washington floated last November and the 20-point counterproposal Kyiv and its European backers sent back, but its energy pillar would undo four years of European effort to wean itself off Russian oil and gas. It also arrives as Washington leans on Kyiv to stop its drone strikes on Russian refineries, a demand that has already soured talks over Trump's energy ceasefire, which Moscow has yet to confirm.
If Zelenskiy agreed to stop the attacks on oil refineries, "we get back to business and go to Moscow", a US official told Ignatius. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner made the same request of Ukraine's negotiators at a meeting with British, French and German officials in Florida, which launched the latest diplomatic push.
European officials are split on the odds. "This is the moment to de-escalate the situation and get back to work," one European diplomat said. Another, citing intelligence reports, said Putin "does not appear to be serious about peace". European leaders were angered by President Donald Trump's diesel deal with Moscow but remain committed to the talks led by Witkoff and Kushner, Ignatius wrote.
Territory remains the hardest point. The front line moves almost daily, making a ceasefire line hard to draw, and Kyiv has yet to send the cost figures for reconstruction, which it is expected to provide within days if the talks continue.