According to a White House official who spoke with CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes on Thursday, Witkoff had been quietly working on the proposal for roughly a month, consulting with both Russian and Ukrainian representatives to gather feedback. In an interview with Axios on Monday, Dmitriev confirmed that he and Witkoff met face-to-face in Miami last month to finalize the framework of the peace plan.
The diplomatic effort continued even after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports in October. Following those sanctions, Dmitriev travelled to the United States for what were described as previously scheduled talks with Witkoff, during which discussions on the peace proposal intensified, according to a senior US official.
However, there are no indications that Ukraine backs the plan, which is believed to require Kyiv to surrender disputed territory, drastically reduce its military forces, and accept significant political concessions, including recognizing Russian as an official language and granting formal status to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Kyiv and Moscow
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while acknowledging this week that the conflict “must end,” reiterated Kyiv’s long-standing position that Ukraine will not relinquish land seized by Russian forces. “There can be no reward for waging war,” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, signaling that Ukraine would reject any deal requiring territorial concessions or demilitarization of its armed forces.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller declined to confirm specific details of the plan when asked on Wednesday, saying only that the administration considers a negotiated end to the conflict to be “a central priority” of US foreign policy.
By contrast, previous statements from Russian officials may indicate satisfaction with many of the plan’s core provisions. Kremlin representatives and Russian intermediaries have maintained that any viable agreement must freeze current battle lines and formalize Russian control over occupied territories.
Dmitriev stated that the plan marks the first time Moscow feels its security interests and territorial claims have been “truly heard” by the United States.
Military action amid diplomatic efforts
The administration’s diplomatic push coincided with a visit to Kyiv by a US delegation led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll this week, focused on military support and air-defense needs. The visit followed Washington’s approval of a $100 million upgrade package for Ukraine’s Patriot missile-interceptor systems.
Even as diplomatic maneuvering intensified behind the scenes, Russian forces continued their bombardment across Ukrainian territory, and the Ukrainian forces struck at Russian cities.
On Wednesday night, Ukrainian authorities reported that a Russian missile strike hit an apartment building in Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine, killing at least 26 people, including three children.
On the other side, Russia’s defense ministry reported that Ukrainian forces launched four US-made ATACMS missiles at the southern city of Voronezh in an attempt to hit civilian targets. Falling debris damaged the roofs of a retirement home, an orphanage, and a house, but no casualties were reported, the ministry said. Moscow released images of missile fragments and said air reconnaissance traced the launches to Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
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