Ukraine agrees to cap its army at 800,000 in revised US peace plan, FT reports
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A peace plan discussed and approved by Ukrainian and U.S. officials would limit Ukraine's peacetime military to 800,000 service members, the Financial Times reported on Nov. 25, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials.
A Ukrainian army of this size would still remain the second-largest European force after Russia and put it close to its current wartime strength of about 900,000 service members.
The news comes after an initial peace plan, presented by Washington last week and criticized for conditions heavily favoring Russia, proposed limiting Ukrainian forces to 600,000 troops.
The original 28-point document was condensed to 19 points after U.S.-Ukrainian consultations in Geneva, although its full content has not been made public.
The most sensitive issues, namely those related to territory, are to be addressed later by U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While a U.S. official cited by CBS News said that Ukraine has "agreed" to the revised peace deal, Moscow's position remains unclear.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia has not officially received the new version, but warned that Moscow would reject it if it fails to meet its long-standing demands.
"There are a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out and will require further talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Ukraine has not publicly confirmed agreeing to restricting its military size. The Kyiv Independent has reached out to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry for comment.
Kyiv has long maintained that any limits on its armed forces represent a "red line" that it is not willing to cross.
The cap of 800,000 troops mirrors a counter-proposal reportedly pitched earlier by the U.K., France, and Germany in response to the U.S. 28-point document.
The final version of the peace plan, designed to bring an end to the full-scale war ongoing for nearly four years, remains unclear as the U.S. reportedly held fresh talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi.
While Trump vowed to bring a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine war, his efforts have failed to achieve a breakthrough in his first 10 months in office as Moscow continues to reject a ceasefire and pushes territorial demands, including for Kyiv to cede the entire Donbas region.
