US 28-point peace plan on Ukraine based on Russian “non-paper” Sources tell Reuters

The 28-point peace plan proposed by the United States to end the war in Ukraine, which became public last week, was based in part on a Russian-authored document submitted to the Trump administration in October, according to three sources familiar with the matter, quoted by Reuters.

The Russians shared the document—an unofficial diplomatic communication known as a “non-paper”—with senior U.S. officials in mid-October, following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington. 

The non-paper outlined Moscow’s conditions for ending the conflict, including concessions Ukraine had previously rejected, such as ceding significant territory in the east. This is the first confirmation that the Russian document played a key role in shaping the U.S. 28-point plan, whose existence Reuters first reported in October.

The U.S. State Department, as well as the Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington, did not respond to requests for comment. The White House also did not comment directly on the non-paper but cited Trump’s statements expressing optimism about progress on the peace plan. “In the hopes of finalising this Peace Plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow and, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians,” Trump wrote.

It remains unclear why the Trump administration relied on the Russian document to shape its own peace proposal. Some senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reportedly believed that the demands outlined by Moscow would be rejected outright by the Ukrainians.

Scepticism over Russian influence

After the non-paper’s submission, Rubio reportedly held a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss its contents. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Rubio acknowledged receiving “numerous written non-papers and things of this nature” but did not elaborate.

Since Axios first reported the 28-point plan, scepticism has grown among U.S. officials and lawmakers, many of whom view it as primarily a compilation of Russian positions rather than a serious diplomatic proposal. Nevertheless, the U.S. applied pressure on Ukraine, warning that military assistance could be curtailed if Kyiv did not agree to the plan.

The plan was partly formulated during a Miami meeting last month that included Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Kirill Dmitriev, head of one of Russia’s sovereign wealth funds. Few officials within the State Department or White House were briefed on this encounter, according to sources.

Bloomberg later reported that Witkoff offered guidance to high-ranking Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov on how Putin should speak to Trump. Call transcripts obtained by the news agency indicated that a “20-point plan” was discussed as early as October 14, with its scope expanding in subsequent talks with Dmitriev.

The U.S. proposal, which caught officials in Washington and Europe off guard, triggered intense diplomacy across three continents. Since its initial disclosure, the plan has been revised substantially: nine of the original 28 points were removed following consultations between senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials, according to ABC News.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators said that Rubio had described the 28-point plan as a Russian “wish list,” though the White House and State Department strongly denied he had made such a characterisation. During subsequent discussions in Geneva with European and Ukrainian officials, a senior U.S. delegation — including Rubio — agreed to remove or modify the most pro-Russian elements of the plan.

Driscoll is currently meeting with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi, while a Ukrainian team is in the UAE for parallel talks with the U.S. delegation, according to a U.S. official. On November 25, Ukrainian officials expressed support for the revised framework emerging from these talks but emphasised that sensitive issues, particularly territorial concessions, would need to be resolved in a potential meeting between Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump.

By Tamilla Hasanova