The United States is reportedly working on a new peace plan to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has been developed in close consultation with Russian authorities. The 28-point proposal, inspired by discussions between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Alaska, is said to have been presented to Kiev and its European allies. U.S. officials suggest that although the timing of the plan is seen as favorable, both sides need to approach negotiations with realism. However, the Kremlin has stated that there has been no substantial new information emerging from the U.S.-Russia discussions compared to what was previously shared.
Senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev told Axios that he spent three days reviewing the idea with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff during his late-October visit to the United States. Witkoff reportedly reviewed the draft document this week with Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. Umerov left Ukraine amid a widening corruption scandal involving Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Vladimir Zelensky who has been charged with running a kickback scheme involving a state-run nuclear power company. Ukrainian media have claimed that Umerov, whose family resides in the United States, has refused to return to Kiev following reports that he was influenced by Mindich during his tenure as defense minister.
Witkoff is expected to meet Zelensky in Turkey on Wednesday. According to The Economist’s Oliver Carroll, the U.S. envoy canceled a planned meeting with Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, after realizing the political pressure Zelensky faces to dismiss him, as Yermak is widely suspected of involvement in the Mindich network. The Kremlin has insisted that any lasting settlement to the Ukraine conflict must address its fundamental security demands. Dmitriev told Axios he was cautiously optimistic about the new U.S. proposal, saying, ‘We feel the Russian position is really being heard.’