the peace plan for Ukraine becomes a soap opera

As reported by several American media in recent hours, the revival of diplomatic contacts to end the conflict took place in mid-October after the ceasefire reached in the Gaza Strip. The president Donald Trump ordered to prepare a similar roadmap for the conflict between kyiv and Moscow after previous unsuccessful attempts.

The White House special envoy, Steve Witkoffand the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushnerthey got to work and developed the controversial 28-point plan. According to the agency Reutersthis document was based on another that the Kremlin, through the economic emissary Kiril Dmitrievhad presented to the Trump Administration.

Dmitriev, the head of the Russian delegation in the contacts registered in Saudi Arabia to reestablish collaboration with the United States, expressly traveled to Miami at the end of October, just after Trump approved the sanctions against the largest Russian oil companies, to meet with Witkoff and Kushner. An envoy of the Ukrainian president also traveled to the city of Florida Volodímir Zelenski.

The news of the meeting was revealed by the portal Axios and from that moment on events accelerated. Dmitriev confirmed the contacts and detailed several key points, red lines for Moscowsuch as the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas, kyiv’s resignation from NATO, the reduction in the size of the Ukrainian Army and the Russian refusal to cease hostilities.

In fact, when the plan was leaked, which during last weekend would be modified after pressure from kyiv and European alliesWitkoff suggested on social networks, in a message that he later deleted, that the culprit had been ‘K’, referring to Kiril Dmitriev.

Upon his return, the Russian had a conversation with the Kremlin’s advisor for international policy, Yuri Ushakovwhose recording has been leaked and published this Tuesday by the agency Bloomberg. In it, he tries to calm Ushakov that said plan will not in any case be presented as Russian, but as American, even if it includes the Kremlin’s position.

“Let them present it as their own. I believe that (in any case) they will not take our complete version, but At least it will be as similar as possible“he confesses.

Witkoff’s advice to the Kremlin

Bloomberg It has also brought to light another telephone conversation held in mid-October between Witkoff and Ushakov, in which the American detailed to the Russian the idea of ​​drawing up a 20-point plan “as we did in Gaza.” In addition, he advises him to convince Putin to call Trump before Zelensky’s visit to the White House and congratulate him for creating peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

“It may be that he (Putin) will tell President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri studied a very good 20-point peace plan and This may be what breaks the situation out of stalemate.“, is included in the transcript revealed by the aforementioned media. Witkoff, who claims to respect Putin “deeply”, confirmed, “between us”, that for peace the Russians need the Donetsk region and the exchange of some territories. He also suggested that the Russian autocrat flatter his counterpart by calling him a “man of peace.”

Trump himself, who finally denied Zelensky the supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles, acknowledged that Putin had congratulated him during the telephone conversation on October 16. Ushakov was outraged on Wednesday with the leak of his conversations, saying that some things are false and undermine efforts to achieve peace. “This is unacceptable, of course, in this type of contact, when such serious matters are being discussed,” he declared, confirming that he will address the issue with Witkoff himself.

On the other hand, both Trump and the White House spokesperson defended their special emissary for Russia and Ukraine by ensuring that his behavior “is common” in this type of negotiations.

Who wrote the plan?

Doubts about the authorship of the plan began from the moment it was leaked. Suspicions arose because the document included most of the Kremlin’s demands presented by Putin to Trump at the Alaska summit. Some analysts noted that when cross-checked with the help of AI, the documents had been translated from Russian to English.

At first, the members of the US Government themselves did not clarify the doubt about the origin of the plan, described as a “wish list” of the Russians by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubioin a conversation with a group of senators.

“The peace proposal was drafted by the United States. It is offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on contributions from the Russian side, but also on previous and continuous contributions from Ukraine,” Rubio replied on Sunday in X.

In this regard, The Wall Street Journal notes that the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umérovwas also invited to Miami, where he expressed his concerns to his interlocutors because the plan clearly benefited Russia.

Be that as it may, the Secretary of the US Army, Dan Driscollthreatened kyiv with suspending arms supplies and intelligence sharing if it did not approve the plan.

Putin commented on November 21 that the document in question is, in reality, “a new wording, in fact a modernized plan, already with 28 points,” based on what was discussed by Moscow and Washington even before Alaska. In no case did he confirm that Russia would commit to complying with said draft. Yesterday, in Abu Dhabi, there were new three-way contacts between the Russian, Ukrainian and American delegations.

Trump contributed more to the confusion by assuring this Wednesday that the document “is not a plan”, but a framework document that had 28 points and now 22, after the renegotiation carried out in Geneva between Washington and kyiv, and stating that the Thanksgiving Day ultimatum is now off the table.