There The first draft of Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine emerged on the American president and his delegation’s flight home from the Middle East in mid-October.. According to the reconstruction carried out by the Wall Street Journal, after contributing to the agreement between Israel and Hamas, Donald Trump instructed his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his envoy Steve Witkoff to prepare a proposal to also close other major conflicts that were still unresolved. The two then began writing the first lines of what would become a 28-point peace framework. It was at that time, according to US officials, that the idea of a parallel diplomatic initiative, conducted outside institutional channels, began to take shape.
Request
In the following days, the two advisers’ work intensified to include Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy who has close ties to Vladimir Putin and has long been on good terms with Kushner. Dmitriev flew to Miami the weekend before Halloween for three days of secret meetings, including dinner and lengthy discussions at Witkoff’s house. All three share the same vision of a possible agreement, but Dmitriev put forward clearer demands: no entry of Ukraine into NATO, complete withdrawal from the Donbass and other disputed regions, and a drastic reduction in the size of the Ukrainian army. His contribution, American sources explained, arose from an effort to “get the green light” from Putin.
In parallel, the draft was also shared with the Ukrainian side. Witkoff and Kushner invited Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem to Miami Umerov, who considered the document “more favorable to Russia than Ukraine” and recommended informing President Volodymyr Zelensky directly. On November 16, in a call described as “candid but constructive,” Kushner and Witkoff explained the plan to the Ukrainian leader, who thanked them – and Trump – but warned that the proposal “requires a lot of hard work.” A second phone call over the same weekend confirmed that Kiev wanted to keep dialogue channels open, despite finding the initial draft unacceptable.
‘Earthquake’
A real earthquake occurred when the plan was leaked to the media. These conditions, which were considered too biased towards the Kremlin, shocked European allies and triggered a diplomatic crisis. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who only received the document on November 18, during a visit to the White House by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was inundated with phone calls from angry American and European lawmakers. Several senators reported that Rubio attributed Russian influence to “unnamed interlocutors,” while pointing out that Kiev also contributed to some parts of the text.
Geneva Meeting
Meanwhile, the White House – already on official diplomatic channels – was forced to integrate the plan into its strategy, while in Kiev envoy Dan Driscoll recalled that Washington had suspended military aid in the past, and hinted that it could do so again if Ukraine rejects any possibility of talks. To contain the political backlash, Rubio – after assuring that “the plan was made by the US” – immediately met in Geneva with Witkoff, Kushner and Ukrainian and European representatives. On the occasion, changes were agreed to make the plan more acceptable to Kiev, including an increase in the maximum limits of Ukraine’s armed forces and the removal of measures that would have prohibited Ukraine’s entry into NATO. US officials assured that the final version would guarantee Kiev’s main objectives.
