EU's von der Leyen to reach out to Zelenskiy on Ukraine peace plan

By Julia Payne

European Union leaders and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will reach out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss a U.S. peace plan on Ukraine during the current G20 summit, von der Leyen said on Friday.

"We will discuss the situation both with European leaders and with leaders here on the sidelines of the G20. I will also reach out to President Zelenskiy to discuss the matter," she told reporters.

Von der Leyen said a key principle European leaders had always upheld was "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."

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The United States and Russia are negotiating a 28-point roadmap to end the war in Ukraine but Brussels has not been included in the negotiations.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, after talks with a top U.S. Army official, that he was ready for "constructive, honest and prompt work" with Washington.

According to the U.S.-backed plan, seen by Reuters, Kyiv would be required to give up the entire Donbas region - part of which Kyiv's forces control - and significantly downsize its military, conditions long seen by Ukraine's allies as tantamount to capitulation.