What's in the leaked US-Russia peace plan?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 November 2025
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine faces "a very difficult choice" amid reports of American pressure to accept a leaked peace deal apparently drawn up by the US and Russia. Europe is also thought to have been blindsided by the proposal, which includes several conditions previously rejected by Kyiv.
So - as Donald Trump's reported Thanksgiving deadline approaches - could this document provide any kind of framework for negotiations involving Ukraine? Victoria and Vitaly are joined by Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse to discuss.
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producer was Laurie Kalus. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.2 | If you're the person always being asked, what's happening in the news? |
| 0:10.9 | You could do with a podcast wingman. |
| 0:13.3 | Newscast is just that, a little voice in your ear, |
| 0:16.5 | giving you a deeper understanding of what's going on in the world. |
| 0:19.5 | We won't even mind if you try and take |
| 0:21.0 | the credit yourself. Listen to Newscast every day on BBC Sounds. Hello, Ukrainecast listeners. This is |
| 0:28.8 | James Waterhouse and since we recorded our episode earlier today, Father Di Mizelensky has delivered a message |
| 0:35.1 | to Ukrainians saying the nation faces a very |
| 0:38.3 | difficult choice. As he put it, either losing its dignity or losing a key partner. That partner |
| 0:45.3 | is widely being interpreted as America, as the US reportedly applies pressure on Ukraine to |
| 0:51.6 | accept an unfavorable deal with Russia. Now, Zelensky hasn't explicitly |
| 0:56.2 | said he's willing to risk rejecting that deal, but that's how a lot of people are interpreting |
| 1:01.4 | his comments. So what about the proposal itself? Keep listening for analysis from myself, |
| 1:07.2 | Vitale and Victoria. Hello, it's 1,367 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 1:16.3 | And as we record here on Friday, we have leaked reports of the framework of some kind of peace deal drawn up. |
| 1:23.4 | It would appear between the US and Russia with very little, if any, input from Ukraine. |
| 1:30.7 | Let's have a listen to the White House press secretary Caroline Levitt talking about this plan last |
| 1:36.7 | night before any official details have emerged. |
| 1:40.1 | Special Envoy Whitkoff, Marco Rubio, have been working on a plan quietly for about the last month. |
| 1:47.4 | They've been engaging with both sides, Russia and Ukraine, equally, to understand what these countries would commit to in order to see a lasting and durable peace. |
| 1:57.6 | That's how you get to a peace negotiation, right? |
... |
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