‘It’s not ours’: Confusion over US peace plan
Confusion has erupted over the origins of a 28-point peace plan Donald Trump is now pressuring Ukraine to accept.
Confusion erupted today over a controversial 28-point plan, being pushed by the United States, to end the war in Ukraine, with American officials making conflicting claims about its origins and reports emerging that the State Department was blindsided by its existence.
The proposal, which has been put to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was initially characterised as having come from the Trump administration when details of it emerged.
President Donald Trump is pressuring Mr Zelensky to sign on to the plan by Thursday, the implication being that US support for Ukraine could otherwise be cut or withdrawn.
On Saturday, US time, multiple American senators made a striking claim. They said the Trump administration’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the equivalent of Australia’s foreign minister, had told them the 28-point plan was actually a Russian “wish list”.
The senators were speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.
“Secretary Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon. I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives. It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan. It is a proposal that was received,” said Senator Mike Rounds, a member of Mr Trump’s Republican Party.
“And as an intermediary, we have made arrangements to share it. And we did not release it. It was leaked. It was not released by our members or our representatives.
“This is an opportunity to receive it, and it has been utilised and delivered to the Ukrainians, and they will have an opportunity to respond. And in doing so, you now have one side being presented and the opportunity for the other side to respond.”
Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, backed up his colleague, voicing his understanding that the plan was “not our recommendation”.
“It is not our peace plan,” Mr King said.
“The leaked 28-point plan - which according to Secretary Rubio, is not the administration’s position - it is essentially the wish list of the Russians that is now being presented to the Europeans and to the Ukrainians.”
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that senior officials in the US State Department, and on Mr Trump’s National Security Council, were not briefed on the plan before it leaked.
“There was no coordination, no one at State had seen this, not Rubio,” one official, who was not named, told the wire service, adding that the plan contains elements the Secretary of State had previously shot down.
It is believed the plan may have come from talks led by Steve Witkoff, the real estate developer who has been acting as an envoy for Mr Trump, and his counterpart, a Russian businessman named Kirill Dmitriev.
Officially, however, both the State Department and Mr Rubio are rejecting suggestions they were blindsided.
“This is blatantly false,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement, addressing the idea that it had come from Russia.
“As Secretary Rubio and the entire Administration has consistently maintained, this plan was authored by the United States, with input from both the Russians and Ukrainians.”
Writing on social media, Mr Rubio said “the peace proposal was authored by the US”.
“It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations,” said Mr Rubio.
“It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
He posted that message while quote-tweeting a previous statement, from November 20.
“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas. And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions,” the older post said.
“That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.”
World leaders question peace plan
It comes as world leaders voiced their concerns over the peace plan, saying while it’s welcome, it needs more work.
The leaders highlighted the “proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces” in the draft document as a particular concern, CNN reported.
“We reiterate that the implementation of elements relating to the European Union and relating to NATO would need the consent of EU and NATO members respectively,” the statement added.
“The initial draft of the 28-point plan includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace,” the statement said. “We believe therefore that the draft is a basis which will require additional work.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of the leaders behind the report, told reporters at the G20 the war can “only be ended with the consent of Ukraine and also with our consent, the European consent, because it is a war on the European continent.”
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there was “more to do on the plan”, though he did welcome it.
Peace at last?
The dispute over the 28-point plan – which cedes Ukrainian territory long sought by Moscow – threw an extraordinary element of confusion into efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
Donald Trump has pushed the plan, pressuring the Ukrainians to accept it within days. Negotiators will meet in Switzerland on Sunday.
However, after a storm of criticism that the proposal is almost entirely favourable to Moscow.
The plan would require Kyiv to cede territory, cut its military, and pledge never to join NATO.
Trump said on Saturday it was not his final offer and he hoped to stop the fighting “one way or the other”.
“We’re trying to get it ended. One way or the other, we have to get it ended,” Trump said.
Earlier on Saturday, other US senators including some in Trump’s Republican party criticised Washington’s plan
“We will not achieve that lasting peace by offering (Russian President Vladimir) Putin concession after concession and fatally degrading Ukraine’s ability to defend itself,” the group of senators wrote in a statement.
Senator Mitch McConnell, a veteran Republican, said “rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America’s interests.” Writing on X, he said that Putin has “spent the entire year trying to play President Trump for a fool.” Since the Russian invasion began in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to keep Kyiv’s territory intact.
In a Friday address to the nation, Zelensky said Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, adding that he would propose “alternatives” to Trump’s proposal.
Zelensky said: “Right now, Ukraine may find itself facing a very tough choice, either the loss of our dignity or the risk of losing a key partner, either the difficult 28 points or an extremely hard winter, the hardest yet and the dangers that follow.
“A life without freedom, without dignity, without justice? They will expect an answer from us, though the truth is, I already gave that answer. Ukraine’s national interests must be respected.”
– With AFP
Originally published as ‘It’s not ours’: Confusion over US peace plan
