US dismisses 'West Bank-style' Ukraine occupation claims as 'fake news'

The US  has denied reports that it is considering a "West Bank–style" arrangement to end the war in Ukraine, dismissing the claim as unfounded and badly sourced.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly called the suggestion "total fake news and sloppy reporting by The Times, who clearly has terrible sources".

She said no such discussions had taken place at any level.

The report in The Times said the model was discussed by US peace envoy Steve Witkoff with Russian counterparts.

Under the proposed plan, Ukraine's internationally recognised borders would remain on paper, but Russia would have de facto military and economic control over the territories it occupies. The arrangement would resemble Israel’s widely recognised as illegal administration of the West Bank since 1967, with a governing authority running the areas while the occupying power maintains security control.

The concept was reportedly seen as a way to bypass Ukraine’s constitutional requirement for a national referendum before ceding territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected any plan involving territorial concessions. "Nothing about Ukraine can be decided without Ukraine", he has said, stressing that any peace process must restore sovereignty over all occupied regions.

European leaders have also voiced opposition to proposals modelled on long-term occupations. They insist that any talks must start with a ceasefire, followed by robust security guarantees for Ukraine, and should not legitimise the seizure of territory by force.

The comparison to the West Bank has drawn particular criticism because of the territory’s history.

Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has been deemed illegal under international law by the International Court of Justice and has been condemned in numerous UN resolutions.

More than five decades after Israel seized the territory in the 1967 war, Palestinians have remained stateless people with no rights, living under a brutal entrenched military occupation and circumstances that are widely seen as being akin to apartheid. with a network of illegal Israeli Jewish settlements eating into Palestinian territory. 

For critics, applying such a model to Ukraine would risk formalising Russia's illegal occupation, entrenching a state of permanent instability, and leaving the civilian population under the control of a foreign military without meaningful political rights.

Human rights groups point to the West Bank as an example of how such arrangements perpetuate grievances, undermine prospects for genuine peace, and complicate humanitarian access.

The Times report suggested that the US proposal was part of an effort to move peace talks forward ahead of a planned meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

According to The Times, the idea was that a special governing body would administer occupied Ukrainian regions while formal sovereignty remained with Kyiv. Proponents argued this could stop the fighting without forcing either side to concede on paper.

But critics say the arrangement would create a frozen conflict with no clear path to resolution - echoing the decades-long Israeli occupation of the West Bank, under which Palestinians have suffered endlessly.

The European Union, NATO members, and Kyiv have said they will continue to push for a settlement that preserves Ukraine’s full territorial integrity.

Officials in Brussels argue that normalising occupation in Ukraine could set a dangerous precedent, weakening the post–Second World War prohibition on acquiring territory by force.