Momentum builds in Ukraine peace push, but experts fear Putin won’t budge

As the United States advances a revised peace framework aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, officials and experts from Kyiv, Moscow and Washington tell Fox News Digital the effort is closer to a breakthrough than at any point since Russia’s invasion — but still stalled by the same immovable obstacle: the Kremlin wants Ukrainian land, and Ukraine refuses to surrender any of it. President Donald Trump said this week that "tremendous progress" has been made, announcing that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will meet Russian officials in Moscow while senior U.S. defense leaders sit down with their Ukrainian counterparts. A senior American official confirmed to Fox News Digital that Kyiv has accepted the "broad contours" of an emerging deal, with "minor details" still being negotiated. European allies say they are coordinating a new "Coalition of the Willing," with France calling for a "just and lasting peace." But as Russia launches fresh missile and drone strikes on Kyiv — killing civilians and damaging power infrastructure — negotiators warn that the territorial question remains the hard red line. US AND Russia DRAFT PEACE PLAN FOR Ukraine REQUIRING MAJOR CONCESSIONS FROM Kyiv Oleksii Honcharenko, an opposition member of Ukraine’s Parliament , told Fox News Digital he believes Ukraine must pursue peace "as soon as possible," even though large segments of Ukrainian society distrust the emerging plan. "My personal position is that we need peace as soon as possible," he said. "This plan is a chance. I don’t like everything in it… some things are unacceptable. But it is a workable framework." He pushed back on criticism that the " peace proposal" is a U.S.-Russia blueprint imposed on Kyiv. "For me, it doesn’t matter who the initial author was. There is a framework. Let’s work on it." Honcharenko acknowledged that sanctions relief — one of Russia’s core demands — would be painful for Ukrainians. But he also underscored the reality of the battlefield: "We are not in the position where our tanks are near Moscow. There will not be a solution I like completely." Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., a House Foreign Affairs committee member, told Fox News Digital the situation reinforces the need for strong American leadership. "Russia invaded Ukraine because Joe Biden was the weakest president in American history." Barr, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky said, "President Trump’s peace-through-strength leadership kept Putin fully contained. This war never would have happened under his watch. Trump is the peace president… the only leader who can end this war and bring stability back to Europe." Exiled Russian economist and former deputy finance minister Sergey Aleksashenko echoed the main roadblock: "The biggest difference is territorial," he told Fox News Digital. "Russia wants to grab what it was not able to take by military means. Ukraine does not want to give up. All other points could be resolved, but not territory." TRUMP TOUTS 'PROGRESS' ON Ukraine-Russia DEAL, ADMITS IT'S 'ONE OF THE MORE DIFFICULT' CONFLICTS TO SOLVE He said he sees no sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to compromise, arguing the Kremlin believes Western support for Ukraine is weakening. Putin may be willing to fight "another two, three years," convinced he can outlast Kyiv and European governments struggling to maintain military aid. Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, the former NATO supreme allied commander, told Fox News Digital he doesn't see Ukraine agreeing to give Russia land Russia has never conquered. "It is an incredibly, incredibly bad thought," he said. Breedlove argued that Putin’s goals extend far beyond Ukraine and that the Russian president has been clear about wanting to reshape the security order in Eastern Europe. He also warned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is negotiating under heavy pressure from Western governments that control Ukraine’s access to weapons and funding. Russia BOMBARDS Kyiv, KILLING AT LEAST 6, AS TRUMP PEACE PLAN MOVES FORWARD "It’s very clear he’s being threatened with no support," Breedlove said. "If Mr. Zelenskyy loses the support of America and Europe, life’s going to be really ugly for Ukraine. But they will not stop fighting." He said early versions of the U.S. proposal included "egregious" provisions that Ukraine never would have agreed to, but that the process has "improved" as Kyiv’s input was incorporated. Still, "the things that are acceptable to Ukraine are not going to be acceptable to Mr. Putin," he said. Breedlove pushed back on the claim that Kyiv is ready to concede territory, saying lawmakers want peace but not capitulation. "I believe there are many parliamentary hearings and many in Zelenskyy's group that want peace, but they want a durable, equitable peace. I'm not sure that they're ready to make a lot of concessions to do that," he said. As negotiators move toward what they hope will be a final round of talks, all sides agree on one point: the success or failure of this effort will depend on whether Ukraine and Russia — under pressure from allies, including incentives from Washington and the realities of the battlefield — can finally bridge the territorial divide that has defined the war from day one.