Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. File
| Photo Credit: AP
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with top Pentagon officials in Kyiv on Thursday (November 20, 2025), his office said, as details emerge of a U.S. plan to end the war with Moscow on terms favourable to the Kremlin.
The meeting will take place a day after Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff skipped a meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy in Turkey, in a blow to Kyiv’s hopes to reinvigorate diplomacy and re-engage Washington in pressuring Russia to halt its invasion.
It also comes a day after a Russian strike killed at least 26 people in one of Moscow’s deadliest attacks on Ukraine this year.
A Pentagon delegation, headed by U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday (November 19, 2025).
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko met Driscoll on Thursday (November 20, 2025), calling the visit an opportunity for the US officials “assess the situation on the ground and to witness firsthand the consequences of Russian aggression”.
Zelenskyy’s aide Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists the Ukrainian leader plans to meet them.
The delegation met Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmygal on Wednesday (November 19, 2025) evening.
U.S. officials have rarely visited Ukraine since President Donald Trump returned to office in January.
U.S. media have reported that Washington and Moscow have been secretly working on a plan to end the almost four-year war, triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion.
A source familiar with the draft proposals told AFP the plan would require Kyiv to cede land and cut the size of its army by more than half — amounting to capitulation.
The Kremlin said it had nothing to say about the reports.
Washington and Kyiv have not publicly commented on the proposals.
Published – November 20, 2025 11:11 pm IST
