French, EU foreign ministers push back on reported US plan to force concessions from Ukraine

French and European Union foreign ministers are pushing back on a reported U.S. plan to force concessions from Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Two unnamed sources told Reuters that the Trump administration had signaled to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he must accept a U.S.-drafted framework to end the war that includes territorial concessions and curbs to Ukraine's armed forces.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Consultations are not currently underway. There are contacts, of course, but there is no process that could be called consultations." 

He noted that Russia had nothing to add beyond the position that Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out at a summit with President Donald Trump in August, and that any peace deal must address the "root causes of the conflict," Reuters reported Thursday.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels did not comment in much detail about the reported U.S. plan, but indicated they would not accept demands for Ukraine to make punishing concessions.

"Ukrainians want peace - a just peace that respects everyone's sovereignty, a durable peace that can't be called into question by future aggression," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. "But peace cannot be a capitulation."

The White House has not commented on the reported plan.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X on Wednesday, "Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas. And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict."

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and the Army's Chief of Staff Randy George are leading an Army delegation in Kyiv and are expected to meet Zelensky late on Thursday. On Wednesday, they met Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said the best way to secure a just peace was to defend Ukraine's airspace, extend its ability to strike deep into Russia, and stabilize the front line.

Ukrainian authorities said Wednesday that 22 people were missing and 26 dead from Russian airstrikes that destroyed an apartment block.