Ukraine Welcomes Revisions To Controversial U.S.-Backed Peace Plan; Christians Worship Amid Ruins (Video)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Footage has emerged of evangelical Christians praying and singing between their destroyed homes in Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday he welcomed proposed changes to a controversial U.S.-backed peace plan for ending the war with Russia.

“Now the list of necessary steps to end the war can become doable…” he said. “Many correct elements have been incorporated into this framework.”

His remarks on the social media platform Telegram came after Ukraine’s European allies submitted an amended version of the 28-point proposal following objections to elements they claimed favored Russia.

An initial draft of the plan caught Kyiv and its allies off guard with demands that the war-battered nation drop its ambition to join the NATO military alliance and surrender territory in the eastern Donbas region, including areas Russia does not yet control. Additionally, Ukraine’s army would be capped at 600,000 soldiers.

However, the counter-proposals reportedly drafted by Britain, France, and Germany excluded any recognition of Russian-held regions, raised Ukraine’s allowed army size, and left the door open to eventual NATO membership, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

Zelenskyy said late Monday that the revised plan was “truly the right approach.” “The sensitive issues, the most delicate points, I will discuss with President Trump,” he added, without saying when.

RUSSIA REJECTS EUROPEAN AMENDMENTS

Russia has consistently demanded full Ukrainian withdrawal from the entire eastern Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It also controls Crimea and parts of the areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the proposal drafted by American and Russian officials in October, which caused consternation in Kyiv and among its European allies. Following the talks — and European pressure — an official in Zelenskyy’s office claimed the leaked 28-point plan “no longer existed.”

However, the Kremlin on Monday rejected the amendments as “completely unconstructive.”

Despite European and Ukrainian concerns, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Monday that the Trump administration was not biased in favor of Russia. “The idea that the United States of America is not engaging with both sides equally in this war to bring it to an end is a complete and total fallacy,” she told reporters.

President Donald J. Trump was “hopeful and optimistic” that a plan could be worked out, Leavitt added.

Following the talks in Geneva, Trump suggested on social media that “something good just may be happening” but warned: “Don’t believe it until you see it.”

CHRISTIANS WORSHIP AMID DESTROYED HOMES

As diplomatic efforts continued, Ukraine’s suffering was laid bare in new footage obtained by Worthy News showing devout Christians praying near homes destroyed by recent attacks.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians have been killed or injured, and millions have fled their homes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly four years ago — Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

A video reviewed by Worthy News on Monday showed believers worshipping amid debris as the war approaches its fourth anniversary.

Christian Leo Regheta said, “War brings a lot of pain and destruction. Yet even in the middle of ruins, Ukraine finds beauty that refuses to die.”

He recalled that the family of Mark Sergeev, pastor and military chaplain, “lost their house twice — once in occupied Melitopol, and now again to a Russian missile in Kyiv. But instead of despair, they chose worship. Together with fellow Christians, they sang praises to God among the ashes.”

Regheta said his “cousin pastors this church in Kyiv. Three families from their church had their homes destroyed [in late September] during what was the heaviest rocket shelling of Ukraine’s capital. So the whole church got together on Sunday morning to clean up and worship God outdoors.”

Amid destroyed homes, he said, they proclaimed:

“Your Word is mighty and holy.

To You all the Praise for everything,

To You all the Praise for everything,

To You all the Praise for everything,

Forever Amen!”

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