The US president has reportedly approved a 28-point peace plan developed with Russia, which requires significant concessions from Ukraine. Kyiv has now confirmed it has received a proposal, after the White House confirmed working “quietly” on a plan. Recap the latest below.
Friday 21 November 2025 00:00, UK
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Thanks for following our live coverage as we brought you more developments on the latest proposed Ukraine peace plan.
We’re pausing our updates for now. Before we go, here’s a round-up of the key lines we brought you.
Let’s start by looking at what we know about the reported peace plan…
What’s reportedly in the plan?
Details of the plan are yet to be confirmed, but several news organisations, including Reuters, the FT, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal and Axios, reported that it may include the following aspects:
US ‘quietly’ working on peace plan
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said special envoy Steve Witkoff and US secretary of state Marco Rubio have been “working on a plan quietly” for about the last month.
“They’ve been engaging with both sides, Russia and Ukraine equally, to understand what these countries would commit to in order to see a lasting and durable peace,” she said.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy met US army secretary Dan Driscoll in Kyiv in what the Ukrainian president described as a “very serious conversation”.
Zelenskyy said he expects to speak to Trump soon, adding that American has the power “to make Russia’s determination to end the war finally serious”.
For more on what we know about the reported peace plan, watch this video from our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn below.
A Ukrainian film director has been speaking on The World with Yalda Hakim this evening.
Mstyslav Chernov, whose new film 2000 Metres to Andriivka captures Ukrainian soldiers during their counter-offensive in 2023, said the war in Ukraine was “very, very different” from what it was two years ago, but that “more than ever… Ukrainians have this longing for peace”.
Asked what the expectations of Ukrainian civilians now were, he said: “It’s quite interesting. Very little of this news we’re talking about here makes it to the frontline.
“There has been so many claims – so many peace plans, so many offers, so many back and forth promises, support for Ukraine, support for Russia, some kind of deals – and all that amounted to nothing, no actions whatsoever being made.
“So by this time there is a lot of scepticism on the frontline and among the civilians that any of these talks will result in anything.”
The signals coming from the Ukrainian government, military and its civilians are all “consistent” about wanting peace, Chernov added.
Watch Chernov’s interview with Yalda Hakim below:
Our US correspondent Mark Stone said he still gets the sense that the peace negotiations are “very much weighted towards the Russians”.
“I can tell you from sources I’ve spoken to who are among the coalition of the willing countries within Europe, they are very much playing catch up,” he said.
“They are very much trying to find out what this new American plan looks like.”
‘Inexperienced’ official sent to Zelenskyy talks
Stone went on to explain how the decision to send US army secretary Dan Driscoll to talks with Volodymyr Zelenksyy is telling.
“He is a very, very inexperienced politician within the Trump administration,” Stone said.
“He is the secretary for the army, 38 years old, he may well be good at what he does, but he is not the kind of experienced, very senior politician that you would expect, a kind of Marco Rubio figure who you would expect to be sitting around the table with the Ukrainian president at this juncture.”
Watch his analysis below.
Five people have been killed in a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia, according to the region’s governor.
Ivan Fedorov also said at least three people have been injured in the attack.
Fedorov had previously warned of an impending attack by Russian guided bombs.
We can bring you more pictures from Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with US army secretary Dan Driscoll in Kyiv, which we told you about in our 18.44 post.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US is having “good conversations with both sides” about ending the war.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president said “we are ready for constructive, honest and swift work”.
We’ve heard from Volodymyr Zelenskyy again this evening after his meeting with US army secretary Dan Driscoll earlier today.
Ukraine’s president describes it as a “very serious conversation”.
“The American side presented their proposals – points of a plan to end the war – their vision,” he said.
“From the very first days of the war, we have held one very simple position: Ukraine needs peace. And real peace – the kind that will not be broken by a third invasion.
“A dignified peace – with conditions that respect our independence, our sovereignty, and the dignity of the Ukrainian people.”
Zelenskyy said “we must ensure these conditions are met”, adding that he outlined “what is fundamentally important to us” during the meeting.
“We will not make any rash statements and are committed to clear, honest work – Ukraine, the United States, and our friends and partners in Europe and around the world,” he said.
Towards the end of his Telegram post, Zelenskyy said he expects to speak with Donald Trump in the coming days.
“We are aware that America’s strength and support can bring peace closer, and we do not want to lose that,” he added.
“We also understand that Russia has no real desire for peace, otherwise they would not have started this war.
“There are many assessments – quite fair ones – that Russia has been trying to do only one thing all this year, namely, to postpone sanctions and gain more time for the war.
“America has the power to make Russia’s determination to end the war finally serious.”
He ends by saying that Ukraine will do “everything to ensure that no one in the world can say that we are undermining diplomacy”.
It’s perhaps no coincidence that Trump’s latest peace plan has dropped just as Volodymyr Zelenskyy is having to deal with the biggest corruption scandal his government has faced so far. The latest plan was drawn up in secret with Russia and depends on huge concessions from Ukraine.
Joining Niall Paterson is our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn to discuss what’s in the 28-point plan and whether a perceived weakness of Zelenskyy’s position is why it has come out now.
Plus, Jaroslava Barbieri,research fellow at the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House on the details of the growing corruption scandal engulfing the Ukrainian government.
We’ve just caught up with Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik.
She told our presenter Barbara Serra that Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s weakness or strength would be defined by his reaction to the corruption scandal within his government.
Public trust in Ukraine’s president is “obviously damaged” as a result of the crisis, Rudik said, which has seen the country’s justice and energy ministers resign amid a major embezzlement and kickbacks scandal involving the state nuclear power company.
Asked if the scandal was being sensed as a weakness for Zelenskyy on the international stage, she said: “The situation is not adding anything to Ukraine.
“We understand it, obviously, because President Zelenskyy is representing Ukraine on the international arena, and [a] corruption scandal is the last thing that our country needs at this really tough time, when people are without electricity and the situation in the frontline is very tough.”
However, “Zelenskyy is not Ukraine” and the scandal cannot diminish the sacrifices that Ukrainian people are continuing to make, she added.
Our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn earlier weighed whether the US-Russia peace plan for Ukraine would put even more pressure on Zelenskyy or, perversely, work to some extent in his favour (see 17:35 post).
Watch Rudik’s remarks below…
We’ve heard from Ukraine’s military after Russia claimed its forces were in control of the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk (see 19.21 post).
Ukraine has denied the statement, and said Russia’s additional claim that its forces control 70% of Pokrovsk is also false.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin Putin said the leadership in Kyiv is holding on to power for personal enrichment, and that Ukrainian military personnel should have the opportunity to lay down their arms and surrender.
The Trump administration has been speaking about the impact of its sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies last month.
As part of the sanctions imposed on 22 October, Rosneft and Lukoil had their assets frozen while US companies were banned from doing business with them.
A senior US Treasury Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters it was seeing signs that the sanctions were making a difference, with prices for Russian oil plummeting as major Indian and Chinese buyers moved to break ties with the companies before Friday’s deadline.
Buyers told the Treasury they planned to cancel, pause or seek ways out of their forward purchases of Russian oil, the official said.
Separate US officials said the price of key grades of Russian oil was now selling at multi-year lows.
There has also been significant outreach from foreign governments and the private sector for guidance on how best to sever ties with the Russian oil firms, the officials added.
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