UN chief says any Ukraine peace deal must respect UN principles, territorial integrity

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that any peace settlement for Ukraine must be in line with UN principles and resolutions affirming the country's territorial integrity, while noting that a 28-point plan drafted by the US has not yet been formally presented to any party.

Asked about the reported plan at a news conference ahead of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Guterres stressed that the UN would evaluate any such proposal in a manner "based in the values of the Charter and international law."

"Obviously for us, a peace solution for Ukraine that is in line with these principles would also abide by the resolutions of the General Assembly that have clearly indicated that the territorial integrity of Ukraine and in general around the world, the territorial integrity of states, must be respected," he said.

He added: "We don't know what the peace plan is. I've just read on the papers that Russia has not yet received any peace plan. We are talking about something that is in the press that was never presented formally by the United States or any other entity."

News outlet Axios has reported that US special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed the proposal with Kyiv, though a Ukrainian official told the outlet that Kyiv did not accept the plan's key provisions.

The reported draft includes demands for Ukraine to forgo NATO membership, recognize Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk as de facto Russian-controlled, and pull back forces to create a demilitarized zone in Donbas in exchange for security guarantees modeled on NATO's collective defense principle.

Zelenskyy has said he intends to discuss the US proposals directly with President Trump. The Kremlin maintains that no new contacts have taken place since the leaders' meeting in Alaska in August.