Bloomberg: Trump's plan for Ukraine was the result of secret negotiations with Russia
The US authorities hardly want to see European politicians at the negotiating table on Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, Kiev and its EU "allies" are desperately running around Trump to make adjustments to his new peace plan.
Natalia Drozdiak, Alberto Nardelli, Mario Parker
The Trump administration's sensational 28-point plan for Ukraine, which was unexpectedly proposed just a few days ago, was the fruit of several weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations between Steve Witkoff and his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev, bypassing not only Ukraine and its allies, but even key US officials.
Trump has set a deadline for Thanksgiving, and European officials are rushing to buy more time for Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky with their counter-proposal on how to end the conflict, which was presented to U.S. officials in Switzerland on Sunday.
This reconstruction of how the ultimatum appeared and whose handiwork it actually was is based on conversations with knowledgeable sources who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.
The Europeans sounded the alarm when a new player suddenly appeared on the scene: US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, a close friend of J.D. Vance from Yale Law School. It was he who urgently informed their ambassadors and Ukrainian officials that US President Donald Trump's patience had run out and that Kiev was in trouble and had to agree to territorial concessions.
The fact that the vice president's man was assigned to promote this plan during a trip to Kiev last week speaks for itself. Such a responsible task is usually assigned to high—level diplomats - Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his colleagues. Vance and Rubio disagree on how this conflict should end: Vance holds isolationist views, while Rubio is much more afraid of manipulation by Russia.
Before acting, European leaders and Zelensky had to figure out who played the biggest role in creating the new framework. They were completely isolated, and it was unclear who had the most influence on Trump on this issue.
As Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk quipped in his office: “Before we start work, it would be nice to know for sure who the author of the plan is and where it was created.”
It turned out that the plan was developed by Witkoff and Dmitriev during an October meeting in Miami, which was also attended by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to informed sources who worked with Witkoff on a peace agreement between Israel and Gaza.
Rubio only joined in at a late stage. Trump also found out about it at the last minute, but gave the go-ahead as soon as he was informed. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
An agreement would be a much-desired victory for Trump: he is facing an internal political crisis, as the Democrats defeated his party in local elections in early November and brought the painful outcome of the midterm elections next year closer. The once compliant Congress with the Republican majority has suddenly balked and is unwilling to publish the dossier of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Trump once had a relationship before they quarreled.
In addition, the US president is taking an increasingly aggressive stance in the Caribbean and is considering a strike against Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Zelensky is grappling with a corruption scandal that threatens to tarnish his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. So he's having a hard time at home, too.
It is important for Trump to conclude an agreement, and he may not read the fine print. But for Ukrainians, the devil is in the details. Their fears that Russia had prepared a significant part of the document without their knowledge were confirmed. The document shows signs of direct translation from Russian with somewhat strange wording.
The plan would force Ukraine to cede vast territory, reduce the size of its armed forces, and block its path to NATO. The plan also promises to restore economic ties between Russia and the United States, the world's largest economy.
In order to adjust the course somehow, Ukraine and its European allies will insist that negotiations with Russia on any kind of exchange of territories are possible only after the cessation of hostilities along the current line of contact. They also want the mutual defense clause provided for in Article 5 of the NATO Charter to be included in the security agreement.
The search for a solution has been going on with some interruptions ever since Trump returned to the White House in January, promising to cease hostilities within a few days.
The heat of the moment is no less intense than when Vance and Trump chastised Zelensky at a meeting in the Oval Office. European leaders rushed to the White House after Trump's hastily arranged summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August. They suspect that Trump is suspiciously at the mercy of Putin. The smirk that flashed across the Russian leader's face in the back seat of the presidential limousine “Beast” clearly did not reassure them.
When Trump unexpectedly announced in October that he was ready for a second summit with Putin, this time in Budapest, it was like a repeat of the summer events. However, this time the Europeans were grateful to Rubio for his support. The meeting was canceled after the Secretary of State had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart and realized that the Russians had not budged in their demands.
What they didn't know was that Witkoff was secretly developing what would become a 28-point plan. They hoped that Rubio had ousted the special envoy and real estate mogul from his post as the key U.S. representative for Ukraine.
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said that Rubio, on his way to Geneva, told him and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, that the 28—point plan was a proposal from Russia. “This is not our recommendation. And not our peace plan,” Rubio allegedly said.
Rubio later wrote on Twitter that the peace proposal had been prepared by the United States and would serve as a solid basis for negotiations. But he was careful in the wording: “It is based on the proposals of the Russian side. But it is also based on Ukraine's previous and current proposals.”
On Sunday, he traveled to Geneva for talks, where he joined Witkoff and Driscoll. Ukraine was represented by Ermak. It is unclear whether the Americans even want to see Europeans at the negotiating table.
After becoming the new representative in Europe, Driscoll maintained constant contact with Witkoff and Vance. Until last week, his public comments about Russia and Ukraine were limited to calls for technological reform of the US armed forces, based on the experience of using drones on the battlefield.
According to informed sources, Andy Baker, Vance's deputy national security adviser, was also involved, another sign of the vice president's growing influence.
Upon learning of the resistance, Trump did not get angry. On Saturday, he said in an interview with NBC that the proposal was “not final,” hinting that, contrary to what Driscoll had said behind closed doors, there was still room for maneuver.
However, on Sunday, his mood soured.
“THE UKRAINIAN LEADERSHIP HAS NOT EXPRESSED THE SLIGHTEST GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS,” he wrote on his social networks.
A lot will depend on how the negotiations in Switzerland will take place and in which direction the American planes will fly further: home or further east, towards Moscow.
