Following the Moscow meeting on December 3 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US envoys that discussed a 27-point peace plan (27PPP), European leaders of the Coalition of the Willing and Ukraine have sent their 20-point counter proposal for approval to the White House, Axios reported on December 10.

At the same time, the White House has sent an outline of the American vision for how the post-war architecture should be structured, from the reconstruction of Ukraine to Russia's return to the global economy. The outline contains almost no details, but even the outline caused a strong reaction in Europe.

As bne IntelliNews has reported, a deep rift has emerged between Washington and Brussels over how to support Ukraine in any post-war scenario. The main point of disagreement has become what to do with Russia’s $300bn of frozen reserves: the US wants to use it to seed two investment funds, whereas Brussels wants to keep the money under EU control and use it to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

E3-Ukraine plan

While the details of E3-Ukraine proposals remain secret, the main points in the plan, based on public comments made in recent days, include:

Ceasefire and territorial arrangements:

• A demilitarised zone would be established along the entire ceasefire line.
• Behind it, a buffer zone would be created where heavy weapons are banned.

Korean DMZ-model under consideration:

• Fixed line of separation between forces.
• Political status of contested territories would be postponed.
• Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) would not remain under Russian control.
• The US may take over management of ZNPP to ensure security.

EU membership and governance:

• Ukraine's EU membership targeted for 2027.
• The US is pressuring Hungary to lift its veto on Ukraine’s accession.
• EU membership is expected to:
  • Boost trade and investment,
  • Improve control over systemic corruption in Ukraine.

Security guarantees:

• The US would provide security guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5.
• Ukraine wants these guarantees to be formally ratified by the US Congress.
• Future security arrangements would exclude any Russian veto power over Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Military and reconstruction:

• Proposals include raising the Ukrainian army cap from 600,000 to 800,000 troops.
• Ukraine rejects any formal restrictions on its military.
• The Trump administration proposes using $100bn in frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
  • This figure could increase significantly.
• US officials are consulting with BlackRock and the World Bank to establish a Ukrainian Development Fund.
  • The fund could attract up to $400bn in investments.
• Trump reportedly also wants large-scale investment initiatives for Russia.

US reconstruction plan

The Trump team sent a package of documents detailing informal economic proposals to European counterparts outlining the US’ vision for post-war Ukraine and Russia, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The one-page appendices, which form part of a broader draft peace plan, include ideas for reconstruction in Ukraine and a pathway for Russia’s reintegration into the global economy.

While the documents are brief and lack implementation detail, they went down badly in Brussels highlighting the increasingly different approaches to the problem on each side of the Atlantic.

One EU source likened the proposals to “an economic version of Yalta”, referring to the 1945 conference that divided post-war Europe, The Bell reports, while another compared them to Trump’s previously floated idea of a “Middle Eastern Riviera” in the Gaza Strip.

At the centre of the American vision is the use of approximately $100bn in frozen Russian sovereign assets for a US-managed Ukraine reconstruction fund – Point 14 on the original 28PP – as well as a $200bn Russian-American investment vehicle for commercial projects. The latter would channel funds into joint ventures intended to incentivise Moscow not to reignite the conflict.

One project cited in the documents involves the construction of a large-scale data centre powered by the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, currently under Russian military control. The idea echoes a shelved 2020 Energoatom plan to build a gigawatt-scale facility using surplus power in southern Ukraine, with private investment of up to $700mn.

Other proposals focus on re-engaging Russia economically and significant sanctions relief. A separate appendix outlines US plans for American firms to invest in strategic Russian sectors, including rare earths, Arctic oil production, and the restoration of Russian energy flows to Europe and global markets, possibly by the purchase of the surviving parts of the Nord Stream gas pipeline by US investors.

During the discussions between Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev, the discussions reportedly included space cooperation, a tunnel connecting Alaska with Russia, and positioned Russia as an “untapped opportunity” for US capital.

American negotiators have criticised the EU’s current plan to use frozen Russian assets for a €50bn reparations loan to Ukraine, arguing that such an approach would rapidly deplete the reserves. “We really understand how to create financial growth,” one US official told the Wall Street Journal, suggesting that private equity participation could expand the total value to $800bn.

On December 10, the White House announced it was in talks with Blackrock on setting up a $400bn Ukraine reconstruction fund , reviving an earlier plan to raise billions of dollars of private capital to fund the rebuild of Ukraine.

European officials are very sceptical, particularly as the proposals diverge from Brussels’ strategy of reducing dependency on Russian energy. The EU last week adopted new regulations for the phased elimination of Russian gas imports over the next two years and a complete ban on the import of Russian gas by 2027.

Talks are moving rapidly towards a crunch point as EU member states are due to meet on December 18-19 to vote on plans for the €210bn Reparation Loan to fund Ukraine’s war over the next two years. If the vote fails then Ukraine could face a macroeconomic collapse in the first quarter of 2026.

A UK- and France-led online meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” is scheduled for December 11, with in-person meetings in Paris over the weekend and Berlin early next week. US negotiators, including Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, are expected to join via videoconference.

Tantalisingly, Bankova hinted that an agreement between all the parties could come within a week, The Kyiv Post reported on December 10.