Adding to his roster of international peace negotiations, President Donald Trump has reportedly proposed putting together a plan to end the over three-and-a-half-year war between Russia and Ukraine, according to several reports citing anonymous sources close to the matter. Why It Matters The plan reportedly would grant Russia expanded control over two eastern Ukrainian territories in exchange for security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe. Territorial sovereignty has been at the crux of the war since Russian President Vladimir Putin led a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which was launched years after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014. The prospect of Russian land guarantees is viewed as a major concession and a concern for Ukraine and its supporters. The reported plan comes nearly a month after the Trump administration announced sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia’s oil industry and after the president said he was not, for now, considering a deal that would allow Ukraine to obtain long-range Tomahawk missiles from the United States for use against Russia. On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump repeatedly said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war on his first day in office. It comes after the president made headway on a peace plan between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. What To Know The plan, outlined in 28 points, would reportedly grant Russia parts of eastern Ukraine, in exchange for a security guarantee, Axios reported, citing a U. S. official familiar with the situation. Specifically, it outlines Russia as gaining de facto control of Luhansk and Donetsk, which are referred to as the Donbas, but Ukraine would not be asked to publicly acknowledge it. The U. S. and international community would recognize Crimea and the Donbas as Russian territory. Currently, the U. S. State Department considers Crimea Ukrainian, writing on its website, “The U. S. government recognizes Crimea is part of Ukraine; it does not and will not recognize the purported annexation of Crimea. Occupation authorities continue to impose the laws of the Russian Federation in the territory of Crimea.” The Axios report noted that in two other frontline regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the “current lines of control would mostly be frozen in place, with Russia returning some land.” A Ukrainian official reportedly noted that the plan limits the size of the Ukrainian military and its long-range weapons in return for U. S. security guarantees. The report did not detail what the U. S. security guarantee entails. Two other countries are reportedly involved in the talks-Qatar and Turkey, Axios reported. Both parties played a key role in establishing Trump’s 20-point Israel-Hamas peace plan. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Ankara. “We count on the strength of Turkish diplomacy, on [how] it’s understood in Moscow,” Zelensky said following their meeting, according to the Associated Press. A U. S. Army official confirmed to the Associated Press that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was in Ukraine on Wednesday for negotiations. Axios reported earlier that Zelensky’s national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, met with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff last weekend. Financial Times reported that one of the lead architects of the deal is Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a close ally of Putin. What People Are Saying Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday: “Moscow is open to continuation; Moscow is open to negotiations. The pause that has arisen is, in fact, due to the Kyiv regime’s reluctance to continue this dialogue.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, per Russia state media outlet Tass: “We count on the continuation of the Istanbul negotiations based on a pragmatic and result-oriented approach. We see them as an important basis for a peaceful resolution [of the conflict].” Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, said in an X post on Wednesday: “I totally disagree with the Administration negotiating w/ the Russians & not the Ukrainians, and their plan to demand the Ukrainians accept the agreement as a “fait accompli.” Not involving the Europeans is foolish. The U. S. did this too with South Vietnam & the Afghan Government. This sounds like 1938 Munich.” Maria Avdeeva, a non-resident senior fellow in the Eurasia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said in an X post on Wednesday: “Seriously? Witkoff and Dmitriev in Miami drafting Russia’s demands for Ukraine calling it a ‘peace plan’? It’s beyond pathetic.” Michael McFaul, Stanford University professor and former U. S. Ambassador to Russia, said in an X post Frankly, I’m shocked.” What Happens Next It is unclear when the plan will be publicly revealed and if and when the parties will agree to the proposal.
https://www.newsweek.com/trumps-new-peace-deal-russia-ukraine-war-everything-we-know-11077463