Washington has been secretly forming a plan with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, according to a report.
It comes amid a fresh attempt by US to force through a peace between Moscow and Kyiv after several diplomatic overtures faltered in recent months.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is said to have discussed the plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Volodymyr Zelensky’s security adviser Rustem Umerov, according to officials from Washington and Kyiv.
The proposal is reportedly inspired by Trump’s plan for the Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October. While the plan succeeded in ending the war, it has not ended violence in the enclave and both Hamas and Israel have accused the other of breaching the agreement.
The White House said it has also begun to brief European officials on the proposal, which will be discussed in high-level meetings this week, as EU countries suffer repeated territorial breaches by drones during Russian air attacks on Ukraine.
In a renewed push to end the war in Ukraine, Washington has also sent two top US Army officials for a rare wartime visit to Kyiv by Trump administration officials, according to Politico.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff General Randy George arrived on an unannounced trip for talks with Ukraine’s leaders in an attempt to revive stalled peace talks with Russia, Politico reported on Wednesday.
The pair are due to meet Zelensky, senior commanders and lawmakers, the outlet reported, citing people familiar with the plans.
Mr Driscoll is also expected to meet Russian officials at a later date, the Wall Street Journal reported separately.
The White House has reportedly turned to Driscoll and other senior commanders in hopes that Moscow might respond better to military intermediaries following earlier failed efforts with political officials.
Recently, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov stated his readiness to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss mending bilateral ties, following reports that he had been sidelined by Putin over his failure to secure a peace summit with Trump.
Lavrov spoke by phone to Rubio on 20 October to discuss the possible summit, but the Financial Times cited a source as suggesting that Lavrov’s conversation with Rubio had put Washington off.
The next day, Trump said that he did not want to hold a meeting that would be “a waste of time”. He later said he had cancelled the summit because it “just didn’t feel right”.
A highly-anticipated meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska last August failed to yield a breakthrough in achieving peace.
The visit to Kyiv comes as Russian forces make gradual advances along parts of the front line and step up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Kyiv’s Western allies are looking for new ways to sustain weapons and ammunition supplies.
Russia last night launched a huge air attack on Ukraine, firing 518 drones and missiles at targets across Ukraine – including the country’s west – and killing at least nine people while injuring dozens, Mr Zelensky said. Many people could be trapped under the rubble, he added.