WASHINGTON — A contentious U.S.-backed Ukraine peace plan promoted by President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer reportedly was largely drafted by a Russia-friendly Ukrainian lawmaker, with minimal input from the State Department’s Ukraine desk or other in-house experts, ahead of a key White House meeting on Wednesday, where it had been expected to be reviewed and approved prior to being made public. Nov. 26, 2025
Leaked Calls and Russian ‘Non-Paper’ Trace Path of Ukraine Peace Plan
A Russian memorandum spelling out Moscow’s conditions for ending the war – among them, territorial amputation and ceilings on Ukraine’s armed forces – provided the basis for a 28-point Ukraine peace plan circulated by Trump envoys in Kyiv, Geneva and Abu Dhabi, three sources who had seen the documents told a Reuters exclusive. The informal document, known in diplomacy as a “non-paper,” landed with senior U.S. officials after Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington and raised the question of just how far the White House embraced Kremlin language.
A second scandal involves leaked audio of Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and the head of the Russian fund, Kirill Dmitriev, discussing sending their draft to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff so Americans could “insist that it’s their own,” according to transcripts shared by EU Today. A second call, reported by the Catalan outlet Ara, suggests Witkoff also coached Putin on how he should praise Trump and discuss Russian control of Donetsk – and the possibility of job-creating land swaps – as a saleable Ukraine peace plan.
Witkoff’s tactics have been defended by Trump as “standard negotiating practice”, and he recently told reporters the 28-point framework was a “map,” backpedalling on previous suggestions that Ukraine had until Thanksgiving to agree, ″ according to the Kyiv Independent. “That’s 100 per cent, they’ve disappeared.” Secretary of State: The secretary has subtly warned the lawmakers and the White House that sending such a peace proposal would give Russia any Ukraine deal it wants.
From 28 to 19 — and a divided West
After angry outbursts from Kyiv, European capitals and members of Congress following the release late last week of a 28-point Ukraine peace plan that included strict ceilings on Ukraine’s armed forces and an explicit ban on NATO membership, U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators worked through a frantic weekend in Geneva rewriting it and stripping out nine provisions felt to be most favourable to Moscow. The new 19-point paper keeps security guarantees on the table but would leave decisions on territory for potential leader-level talks between Trump and Zelenskyy.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also warned against “slicing up a part of sovereign Europe” and said any Ukraine peace plan must respect the territorial integrity and military sovereignty of Kyiv, according to the Guardian.“The developments in eastern Ukraine concern us and I hope that we can come away from these today with everyone redoubling their efforts to obtain a solution,” she told lawmakers in Strasbourg. Britain, France and Germany have put together their own counter-proposal that would demand strong defence guarantees for Ukraine and not recognise Russian land grabs, while the New York Post reports that Moscow is ready to slap down the U.S.-Ukrainian version, which could keep the war going well beyond Christmas.
Zelenskyy has indicated a circumspect willingness to operate under the scaled-back structure, emphasising that Ukraine will not sign a deal that legitimises occupation and calling on Europeans to serve as guarantors alongside the United States. The negotiations play out as Russian missiles and drones pound Ukrainian cities even during cease-fire discussions, underscoring the dangers of negotiating under fire.
New war, same debate over how to end it
The battle over the existing peace plan for Ukraine is on top of years’ worth of competing blueprints. Zelenskyy’s own 10-point “peace formula,” which he pushed since 2022 and was debated at Jeddah meetings hosted by the Saudis, aims to reintegrate all occupied territory into Ukraine and secure justice for Russian war crimes, a 2022 Reuters explainer said. A plan for victory of any kind would hinge on Ukraine’s membership in NATO and long-term Western security guarantees, including protection from nuclear attack, a detailed outline published on the Ukrainian presidency’s website last year said.
Into that murky environment, with a Russian “non-paper” now verified as “clearly part of the building blocks” for Trump’s original 28-point draft, diplomats say its provenance could be as important as its content. As Witkoff heads to Moscow and U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll goes back and forth between delegations, trust in the process — and whoever writes up the next round of points — may find out whether the latest 19-point Ukraine peace plan ever advances from paper to peace.
