Multiple media reports indicate that a secret plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war has been drafted and just needs to be agreed to by the warring parties.
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, hosted Kirill Dmitriev, an adviser to President Putin, for three days in Florida at the end of October to hammer out a 28-point peace plan.
According to the Financial Times, it demands significant concessions from Ukraine, including recognizing Russian as an official state language and giving up its stockpile of U.S. weapons.
Also part of the still officially secret plan is a requirement that Ukraine half the size of its army and surrenders the Donbas region in the eastern part of the nation.
Ukraine would also grant official status to the local branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, reports the Times of London.
Dmitriev said the Kremlin was likely to accept the plan because “we feel the Russian position is really being heard.” He told Axios, which first reported the proposal: “It’s happening with the background of Russia definitely having additional successes on the battlefield.”
This includes a recent Russian attack on western Ukraine, killing at least 25 people, including children.
The talks between Witkoff and Dmitriev appear to suggest Ukraine and Europe have been frozen out of negotiations. “We don’t really care about the Europeans,” a White House official told Politico. “It’s about Ukraine accepting.”
To that end, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll arrived in Kiev Wednesday to brief President Zelensky whose administration recently has been rocked by corruption charges.