Trump new peace plan for Ukraine
The Trump administration has developed a new 28-point Ukraine-Russia peace plan. It is met with skepticism by the European allies, but these are the same countries that argue that Ukraine should get Crimea back, get all territory in eastern Ukraine and think that Ukraine should join NATO. These delusions more or less disqualify the Europeans from being taken seriously. Trump’s 28-point plan for peace in Ukraine would force Kyiv to give up additional territory in the east, cap the size of its military, and agree it will never join NATO.
The U.S. side is pushing Ukraine to make a deal on an aggressive timeline and despite the plan including proposals Ukraine has repeatedly rejected up to now, President Zelensky is not ruling it out. A senior White House official acknowledged the plan is not easy for Ukraine but said the U.S. believes the war must end and that if it doesn’t, Ukraine is likely to lose even more territory.
Witkoff consulted with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev on the plan. Dmitriev is optimistic about it because unlike past efforts, we feel the Russian position is really being heard. President Vladimir Putin has not publicly endorsed the plan. U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll presented the plan to Zelensky writing. Afterward, Zelensky said he was prepared to hold talks about it with Trump and his team.
In addition to the territorial concessions asked of Ukraine, the document says there would be a decisive coordinated military response in the event of further Russian incursions onto Ukrainian territory. It does not say what role the U.S. would play in such a response. The plan also includes economic components that would see some frozen Russian assets go toward rebuilding Ukraine, sanctions on Russia lifted, the U.S. and Russia agreeing to partner long-term in areas like AI and mining, and Russia returning to the G8. All parties would get amnesty for their actions during the war, presumably meaning Russian officials and soldiers could not be prosecuted for war crimes. The plan also calls for Ukraine to hold elections within 100 days of a deal.
The key elements of the plan are that Ukraine’s sovereignty will be confirmed, NATO will not expand further, Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees, the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be limited to 600,000 personnel, NATO agrees not to station troops in Ukraine, Ukraine is eligible for EU membership, Russia will be reintegrated into the global economy, Russia will be invited to rejoin the G8, all Nazi ideology and activities must be rejected and prohibited and Ukraine will hold elections in 100 days.
In terms of territory, Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognized as de facto Russian, including by the U.S. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be frozen along the line of contact, which will mean de facto recognition along the line of contact. Russia will relinquish other agreed territories it controls outside the five regions.
It is time for Europe to wake up and realize that Russia is still making advances in Ukraine and there will have to be some Russian territorial gains. For Ukraine, this is an opportunity to move forward to align itself and its economy closer to the EU and in particular to the U.S. Russia has the upper hand as they can continue gradually gaining territory, but this deal seems pretty good for Russia too as it would rejoin the global economy and get rid of the sanctions. In a way, this proposal is a win-win for all parties involved and it feels like it is time to move on and work together to find a sustainable peace agreement sooner rather than later.