Economist: New US plan to reduce the number of the Armed Forces to 40% of the current one

The "peace" plan, developed jointly by the United States and Russia, provides for a reduction in the number of Ukrainian troops to 40% of the current level. This was reported by the newspaper The Economist with reference to unnamed interlocutors familiar with the document.

The article states that the plan, developed without Ukraine's knowledge by the US President's Special Representative Donald Trump Steve Witkoff and an envoy of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin Kirill Dmitriev seems to be practically a demand for surrender.

Interlocutors familiar with the document claim that the plan takes into account many of the maximalist demands already known from previous Russian proposals and adds a few more.

They said that the plan contains 28 points, mainly focused on limiting Ukraine's military power after the war.

The document provides for a reduction in the number of Ukrainian troops to 40% of the current level without a corresponding reduction on the Russian side. In addition, according to the plan, Ukraine will be obliged to cede even more territory, in addition to the lands in the east and south already occupied by Russia. Kyiv would be prohibited from having several classes of weapons, including long-range systems capable of reaching Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The interlocutors also said that according to the plan, foreign troops will not be allowed on Ukrainian territory. Airplanes used by foreign diplomats will be banned from flying to Ukraine, which casts doubt on Russia's intentions regarding Ukrainian airspace.

Ukraine will also have to declare Russian as the second state language, and the local branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was banned due to Ukraine's accusations that it was used as a tool of Kremlin propaganda and espionage, will be reinstated.

It is unclear how widely this proposal was discussed in the Trump administration, or whether it was largely a personal initiative of Witkoff. Some interlocutors are inclined to the latter. The U.S. State Department declined to comment.

It is also unclear what the purpose of developing such a plan is, other than the desire to put the president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into an awkward position amid the energy sector corruption scandal. Interlocutors close to the Ukrainian presidential administration fear that the timing may indicate that some in the United States want to use the crisis to push Kyiv to make unreasonable concessions.

• On November 19, Axios reported that the Trump administration is allegedly secretly consulting with Moscow to develop a new plan to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.
• On November 20, The Telegraph reported that Russia could pay "rent" Ukraine for occupying the Donbas, according to Trump's new plan.