Secretive US-Russia peace negotiations on Ukraine left out key White House officials, Bloomberg reports
Secretive talks between the U.S. and Russia left out key White House officials and have been ongoing for weeks, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 23.
U.S. President Donald Trump has previously said that Ukraine must make a decision by Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., which falls on Nov. 27.
With efforts led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio found out much later, and Trump, who was informed at the last minute, approved the draft plan, Bloomberg reported.
The proposal has faced controversy from lawmakers in the U.S., European leaders, and Ukraine, who have said the draft rewards Russia for its war.
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a longtime friend of Vance, told Ukrainian and European officials that Kyiv is in a bad position, must give up territory, and that Trump has lost patience, Bloomberg reported.
After Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, the U.S. leader was ready for a second meeting in Budapest in the fall. Trump later called off the meeting.
"It didn't feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get — so I canceled it, but we'll do it in the future," Trump said in October.
According to Bloomberg, despite the cancellation of the Budapest summit, Witkoff and Russia were already quietly working on the draft peace plan.
Rubio earlier told senators that the 28-point peace plan drawn up by Witkoff and his Russian counterpart, Kirill Dmitriev, was actually a Russian plan that the U.S. had agreed to pass along to Ukraine, according to Republican Senator Mike Rounds.
Afterwards, Rubio issued a statement denying that the drafted peace plan was a Russian proposal.
"The peace proposal was authored by the U.S. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine," he said.
As the U.S. pressures Kyiv to swiftly accept a peace deal, a Ukrainian delegation in Geneva, Switzerland, is developing a "workable solution" for ending Russia's war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post on Nov. 23 as Kyiv and Europe aim to negotiate a more favorable peace plan.
Trump, on Nov. 22, told reporters that the peace plan is not Washington's final proposal amid widespread concern.
