Trump’s Russia-Ukraine Peace Effort Marred by Leaks, Confusion

Welcome back to Foreign policyStatus Report for, and a very Happy Thanksgiving Week to all celebrants! We’re coming to you a day early and in a shorter version because we’re going on vacation tomorrow, but we’ll be back fully operational next week.

Well, here’s what’s on offer for today: Trump administrationThe upside-down approach to Peace process in Ukraine.

Welcome back to Foreign policyStatus Report for, and a very Happy Thanksgiving Week to all celebrants! We’re coming to you a day early and in a shorter version because we’re going on vacation tomorrow, but we’ll be back fully operational next week.

Well, here’s what’s on offer for today: Trump administrationThe upside-down approach to Peace process in Ukraine.

It’s been almost a week since Axios first announced a new US peace plan for Ukraine, and what’s happened since has been a geopolitical saga for the ages, marked by the fury of Kiev’s allies in Washington and Europe, frenzied diplomacy, leaked phone calls, and more.

The plan was reportedly drafted in Miami late last month by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.

In its original form, the 28-point plan called for Ukraine to make major concessions to Russia, including ceding the entire Donbas region — including territory still controlled by Kiev — to Moscow, accepting limits on the size of the Ukrainian military, and abandoning efforts to join NATO. There are still open questions about who exactly drew up the initial plan and to what extent Russia directly drafted the proposal, but Kiev and its allies saw it as a capitulation to Moscow.

Initially, Trump took a hard line and gave Kiev until November 27 to approve the proposal. But while US officials worked with Ukraine and European allies to craft a revised version more acceptable to Ukraine, Trump softened his tone and said there was no deadline. However, a lot is still up in the air, and the exact details of the new 19-point version are still unknown.

Leaky ship. Meanwhile, Russia has not agreed to anything, confirms that it has not officially received a revised plan, and indicated that it will not make major concessions. Moscow is also angered by the leak of the contents of two phone calls made by Putin’s chief foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, in October – one with Witkov and the other with Dmitriev – and published by Bloomberg.

In the phone call between Witkov and Ushakov, the US envoy provided advice to his Russian counterpart on how to deal with Trump regarding a new peace plan for Ukraine. Witkoff is now facing intense criticism over the conversation — including from Republicans — but Trump stands by him.

The Kremlin suggested on Wednesday that the calls were leaked to derail the peace talks, with Ushakov claiming that “some of these leaks are fake.”

However, the messages the Trump administration is sending about the prospects for a deal remain optimistic, and Witkopf (and possibly Kushner) is scheduled to travel to Moscow for talks next week. US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who has been pushed to play a prominent role in Ukraine peace talks despite not participating previously, is also scheduled to continue discussions in Kiev.

If you are having difficulty following the latest developments in the peace process in Ukraine and the ramifications of the plan now on the table, Foreign policy He provided extensive coverage of the most important developments over the past week. Here are some links to recent reports and analysis to help you catch up: