The alleged 28-point peace plan developed between Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, and Kiril Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign fund, has been born almost dead because for the main affected party, it is difficult to accept. The publication of part of its content in various international media even before being presented to Ukraine, the country that would suffer the collateral damage of said document, is having consequences that could have a huge impact on the immediate future of the conflict, but also within the White House.
The document, which is an extension of the Kremlin's maximalist demands in which Russia does not give in and is the big beneficiary, stems from a series of meetings in Miami between both businessmen. This face-to-face meeting came after the fiasco of the planned Budapest meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, canceled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio after a "disappointing" call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday about the plan that "it is in the process of negotiation and is still under review," but confirmed that President Trump supports it. "It is a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe it should be acceptable to both parties," emphasized Leavitt, who dismissed concerns that it includes many of Moscow's demands. The Republican administration also stated that it is observing signs that its sanctions on the main Russian oil producers are affecting the economic engine that has allowed Moscow to continue financing its war in Ukraine.
Kiril Dmitriev went to the US to try to fix the mess Lavrov caused by being too blunt with Rubio, which the Secretary of State interpreted as Russia not actually budging from its maximalist positions and that it made no sense to meet with them again after the Alaska summit. Rubio informed Trump of this, who not only canceled the meeting (or postponed it indefinitely) but also imposedthe first sanctions of his second term on Russia, specifically on the oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. After nine months of Putin stalling to gain time by flattering Trump but not moving an inch, Rubio got up from the table and ended the game.
Then, just a few weeks ago, Dmitriev tried to meet with several members of the Trump administration in the US to restart the loop. Rubio ignored him and Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce, scorned him by calling him a "mere propagandist". The only one who listened to him those days was Steve Witkoff, the man who had sat with Putin accepting a Kremlin official as a translator, thinking she was a US embassy worker in Moscow.
Dmitriev stated in Axios that they met in Miami for three consecutive days. From that meeting came that 28-point document that the Russian side leaked with statements from Dmitriev himself about a plan "to address the conflict in Ukraine, but also how to restore relations between the US and address Russia's security concerns."
Immediately after, the Russian Foreign Ministry denied that any memorandum was being negotiated. How is it possible that Moscow leaked that it was negotiating something and at the same time denied it? To understand this, one must know Russian negotiation tactics, which aim to wear down one of the negotiating parties (the White House) with something that is, at best, an embryo of a plan and, at the same time, they aim not to anger Trump with an official stance that distances itself from the leak.
How does Russia intend to wear down the White House? By making it clear that there is internal division. It has not been too difficult for them, because on the same Wednesday night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted to the alleged peace plan without mentioning it: "Ending a complex and deadly war like that in Ukraine requires a broad exchange of serious and realistic ideas. Achieving lasting peace will require both parties to accept difficult but necessary concessions. Therefore, we are developing and will continue to develop a list of possible ideas to end this war, based on contributions from both sides of the conflict." Later, the White House spokesperson said that Rubio had also participated in the document.
But the part where he refers to "both parties accepting difficult concessions" is a clear message not to Russia, but to Witkoff. In fact, sources close to the White House reveal that the relationship between him and Rubio is non-existent. The Secretary of State despises Witkoff, whom he considers just a real estate developer with no diplomatic experience, who also starts from a key mistake: thinking that everyone sitting at a negotiation table wants to negotiate.
The result, therefore, is a document that closely resembles a shopping list drawn up by the Russians, in which Ukraine and Europe are not taken into account at all. At this point, it is difficult to know if Trump himself agrees with the leaked document or if he has seen it from afar, but he himself has given the green light to arms sales that contradict the peace plan itself, which in one of its points would prevent Ukraine from having Western weaponry in the future.
Another contradictory aspect is the fact that Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, authorized long-range ATACMS missile attacks (from the US) against Russia before Secretary Driscoll and General George visited Kiev to discuss defense industrial cooperation, that is, buying drones from Ukraine. How do you agree to a pact with Russia to limit the arms industry of a country from which you are going to buy the most advanced drones in its arsenal?
Brussels does not buy the document
After the document was revealed, only the opinion, more than predictable, of Ukraine remained. Zelenski was supposed to meet yesterday in Ankara with Witkoff, but he canceled the meeting "furious", according to some witnesses, upon learning about this plan through the media. The Ukrainian president already told him face to face in the Oval Office that he was not going to hand over control of areas to Moscow that had not been conquered by Z troops, referring to the rest of Donetsk that has not been occupied by Russia.
Europe, almost unanimously, also does not buy Witkoff's merchandise. "For any plan, Ukraine and Europe must be at the table," said the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. Another one who seems to distance himself from this Witkoff plan is General Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, who has been ignored time and time again and has announced that he will not remain in the administration starting in January.
It is worth asking if this project, which is Witkoff's, is also Trump's, because it is the blonde president who would benefit the most from it, in the midst of the Epstein case storm, with the victorious image of a peace plan.