United States President Donald Trump's new plan to end the war in Ukraine envisions Russia receiving parts of eastern Ukraine that it does not currently control in exchange for US security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe against future Russian aggression, a US official with direct knowledge of the plan told Axios.
Ukraine and its allies would see that as a huge concession to Russia. The White House view, as quoted by a US official, is that Ukraine is likely to lose the territory anyway if the war continues, "and therefore it is in Ukraine's interest to reach an agreement now."
The two most sensitive issues in the talks on Ukraine so far have been: who will control which territory after the war ends, and how Ukraine can be guaranteed that Russia will simply not resume the war at some later point.
Axios writes that Trump's 28-point plan envisions Russia gaining full de facto control over the Luhansk and Donetsk regions (together known as Donbass), despite Ukraine still controlling about 12 percent of the territory in the area.
Although they would be under Russian control, the areas in Donbas from which Ukraine withdrew would be declared a demilitarized zone, where Russia would not be able to deploy troops.
In the other two war-torn regions, Kherson and Zaporizhia, the existing dividing lines would be largely frozen, with Russia returning part of the territory, which would be the subject of further negotiations.
Under Trump's plan, the US and other countries would recognize Crimea and Donbas as legitimate Russian territory, but Ukraine would not be required to do so.
A Ukrainian official claimed that the plan also includes restrictions on the size of the Ukrainian army and its long-range weapons, in exchange for US security guarantees.
The Ukrainian official also confirmed that the US plan envisages Ukrainian territorial concessions in Donbas.
It is not clear what exactly American security guarantees would entail, other than a promise to defend against possible new Russian aggression.
According to two sources with direct knowledge, Qatar and Turkey are involved in drafting Trump's new plan and supporting US mediation efforts.
"Qatari and Turkish mediation helped end the war in Gaza and could help end the war in Ukraine," one of the sources said, according to Axios.
A senior Qatari official participated in talks between Trump envoy Steve Vitkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's national security adviser, Rustam Umerov, last weekend, the sources said.
A source with direct knowledge said that Umerov was authorized by Zelensky to negotiate with Vitkoff and that many of his comments were incorporated into the text of the 28-point plan.
The source claimed that a lot of understanding was reached during the talks with Umerov.
A Ukrainian official confirmed that Zelensky sent Umerov to be briefed on the US plan, but said the briefing was oral and that Umerov did not receive a written proposal from Vitkoff.
A Ukrainian official denied that Zelensky's adviser accepted the terms of the plan during the meeting, claiming that Ukraine opposed many points.
Before meeting with Umerov, Vitkoff had extensive discussions about the plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
As part of Turkey's support for Trump's peace initiative, Witkoff planned to visit Ankara on Wednesday (yesterday) and hold a trilateral meeting with Zelensky and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, a US official said.
The U.S. official said the meeting was postponed when it became clear that Zelensky was backing away from the understanding reached with Umerov and was not interested in discussing Trump's plan. Instead, Zelensky traveled to Ankara with another plan prepared with European partners, which Russia would never accept, the U.S. official said.
A Ukrainian official said the meeting was postponed because Zelensky asked for the plan to be discussed in a broader format, including European countries. Another U.S. official said an internal political scandal in Ukraine, linked to corruption investigations against some of Zelensky's closest advisers, was also one of the reasons for the postponement.
The official said Trump authorized Witkoff to try to reach a deal with Zelensky in Turkey and supported the decision to cancel the meeting with the Ukrainian president.
"Now we will wait. The ball is in Zelensky's court," the US official said. He also said Zelensky could come to Washington to discuss the new US plan if he wanted to.
Trump approves 28-point plan?
Trump this week approved a 28-point plan for peace between Russia and Ukraine, which top administration officials had been quietly developing over the past few weeks in consultation with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ukrainian officials, a senior administration official told NBC News.
Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, US Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner were involved in formulating the plan, the official said.
"The plan focuses on providing security guarantees to both sides to ensure lasting peace. It contains the things that Ukraine wants and needs to have sustainable peace," a senior official told NBC News.
The official did not want to provide details of the plan, which he believes is still the subject of some type of negotiation with key parties involved, NBC News reported, adding that the Axios website first reported the plan's existence.
Three US officials told NBC News that the framework for a peace agreement has yet to be presented to the Ukrainians and that the timeline for finalizing the draft plan coincided with a visit by a military delegation to Ukraine.
"Ending a complex and deadly war like the one in Ukraine requires a broad exchange of serious and realistic ideas. And achieving lasting peace requires both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions. That's why we are developing and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war, based on the contributions of both sides to this conflict," Rubio wrote yesterday on the X platform.
A U.S. delegation arrived in Kiev on Wednesday morning with two missions for its meetings with Ukrainian officials: to discuss military strategy and technology and to help revive the peace process, according to two U.S. officials, a European official and a source close to the Ukrainian government.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was joined by the Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy George, and other senior Army officials, Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesman, said in a statement, hours after Ukrainian police said at least 25 people were killed in heavy overnight Russian missile and drone strikes.
One US official described the visit as a White House plan intended to "relaunch peace talks."
US efforts to revive peace talks appear to be gaining momentum, although the Kremlin is showing no signs of changing its conditions for ending the war, and has downplayed a media report that the US is working on a 28-point peace plan, NBC News reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing that there were "no such plans" for Russia to meet with Driscoll after his talks in Kiev, indicating that there had been little change from the Alaska talks in August.
A defense official said Driscoll was familiar with the 28-point plan, but that it was not the main topic of his meetings in Kiev.
Ukraine was not involved in shaping the proposed peace plan, according to a source close to the Ukrainian government and a European official familiar with the matter. Ukraine was briefed on the broad outlines of the plan but was not given detailed information or asked for input, two of the sources said.
Ukrainian officials believe the timing of the proposal — which coincides with a serious corruption scandal in the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — is no coincidence, a source close to the Ukrainian government said. Officials see the move as a likely attempt by the Kremlin to take advantage of a potentially weakened Ukrainian leadership.
Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who has spearheaded legislative initiatives to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine, told NBC News that he was not previously aware of the plan.
"I don't know anything about that. But I will say this: I hope there is no plan — no plan will work unless (Russian President Vladimir) Putin believes that we are serious about continuing to deliver top-notch military aid to Ukraine," said Graham, who spoke with Trump on Tuesday night.
A U.S. delegation in Kiev is discussing military issues, including air defense efforts against Russian drone and missile attacks on the country's energy infrastructure, as well as mapping the front line to help a potential peace process, a source close to the Ukrainian government and a European official familiar with the situation said.
Previous diplomatic efforts led by Witkoff also excluded Ukraine and failed, as Kiev and NATO allies considered the proposals too favorable to Moscow and had little realistic prospect of ending the conflict.
Russia has consistently demanded serious restrictions on the Ukrainian armed forces, a ban on the country's accession to NATO, and a ban on the presence of Western troops as a condition for securing any peace.
"The president has made it clear that it is time to stop the killing and reach an agreement to end the war. President Trump believes there is a chance to end this senseless war if some flexibility is shown," a White House official said.
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