Europe, Ukraine Discussing 12-Point Plan To End War; Trump-Putin Meeting ‘Not Imminent’

Update (1232ET): Europe and the UK are discussing a 12-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Bloomberg reports. 

• The war would end along current battle lines
• Trump administration ‘Peace Board’ would oversee
• Ukraine would receive security guarantees and reconstruction funds
• Sanctions on Russia would be gradually lifted
• Russia has to contribute to Ukraine reconstruction funds
• ‘No clear date’ set for meeting between Trump and Putin 

The plan would end the war along current battle lines – a counter to Vladimir Putin’s demand that Kiev surrender more territory in return for a peace deal. 

If adopted, the Trump administration would oversee implementation of the proposed plan, according to people familiar with the discussions. Assuming the ceasefire holds and both sides commit to halting further advances, there would be a prisoner exchange, as well as ‘all deported children’ (what?), while Ukraine would receive security guarantees and reconstruction funds, along with a pathway to rapidly join the European Union. 

In exchange, sanctions on Russia would be gradually lifted, and around $300 billion in frozen central bank reserves would be returned to Moscow – if the Kremlin agrees to contribute to Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.

Meanwhile, as noted below the Kremlin pushed back against CNN claims that a Trump-Putin meeting had been postponed, but acknowledged that no date has been set.

“We cannot postpone what has not been agreed upon,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in a statement to TASS state news early Tuesday, adding “Everything is in progress, internal work is ongoing. As new information becomes available, we will keep you informed.” 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed Ryabkov regarding the Trump-Putin summit in Budapest, saying “You can’t postpone something that hasn’t been agreed upon.” 

Developing…

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The Kremlin on Tuesday has said that while its stance since Presidents Putin and Trump met in Alaska in August has remain unchanged, European countries are busy seeking to thwart peace efforts.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing that the European allies are actively encouraging Kiev to keep pursuing a solution militarily. “Right now, Europeans are not really focused on peace and are doing little to achieve it,” he said.

Peskov also cited reports from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service that European NATO members are “continuing extensive preparations for a potential armed conflict with Russia,” according to TASS.

In parallel statements Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia’s special military operation “is fulfilling its goals” and that “there is no doubt that it will conclude successfully.”

He then batted down President Zelensky’s current push to freeze the conflict before peace talks can be held. Moscow has long said it is not willing to do a temporary truce, seeing in this a Ukrainian ploy to regroup and rearm before a comprehensive settlement can be achieved.

“An immediate ceasefire, the talk of which has suddenly reappeared, would mean only that a large part of Ukraine remains under the Nazi regime’s control, while the need is to resolve the issue at its core and address its underlying causes,” Lavrov stressed.

Zelensky came off his Friday White House meeting with Trump saying that the US President is in agreement with him on this point.

But Lavrov has countered, “I would like to officially stress that Russia has not altered its stance compared to the understandings reached during the Putin-Trump extended talks in Alaska.”

He too laid much blame on the Europeans for seeking to sabotage talks, as a meeting is under preparation to be hosted in Budapest between Trump and Putin. Lavrov continued:

The desire of the Kiev regime’s “European patrons” to insist on a ceasefire in exchange for a comprehensive settlement of the Ukrainian conflict runs counter to the agreements reached in Alaska: “This approach contradicts what Presidents Trump and Putin agreed upon in Anchorage, which was to focus on the root causes.”

At the moment, President Trump is being widely accused in mainstream media of essentially selling out the Ukrainians and siding with Putin related to potential future terms of a peace settlement:

Behind the scenes, Trump had pushed Zelenskyy to give up swaths of territory to Russia, two people briefed on the discussion told Reuters. “Let it be cut the way it is,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. “It’s cut up right now,” he said, adding that you can “leave it the way it is right now”.

“They can negotiate something later on down the line,” he said. But for now, both sides of the conflict should “stop at the battle line – go home, stop fighting, stop killing people”.

This would indeed give Russia effective control of some 20% or a little more of Ukraine, and the idea is that the battlelines would be ‘frozen’ as a more comprehensive deal is hammered out.

Meanwhile MSM is piling on too, with several negative reports on efforts to get Putin and Trump at the table again in Budapest:

“It was also not immediately clear what impact the tabling of the pre-meeting between Lavrov and Rubio would ultimately have on the anticipated Trump-Putin summit in Budapest, Hungary.” —CNN

Rubio’s call with Lavrov did not go well; Rubio is expected to recommend the Budapest summit not go forward next week. https://t.co/22WvSPN87c pic.twitter.com/stv3mzOWAE

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) October 21, 2025

It could be that Trump is finally getting realistic about the conflict – the Russians are not going to pack up and leave the battle lines, and territorial concessions are what will end the war, whether Kiev likes it or not.

Russia seems to be trying to be careful to play nice with Trump and not offend him at this sensitive juncture of Moscow-Washington bilateral talks, while laying all the blame for any stall in negotiations on the more hawkish Europeans.