Reuters quoted several sources close to the US President-elect as saying that, despite some differences, all three proposals included Ukraine ceding land to Russia and giving up its aspirations to join NATO.
A former national security official under Donald Trump who is involved in the ongoing US government transition said one of the plans was for the incoming US special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg.
The other two plans were penned by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and Mr. Trump’s former acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, respectively, according to the official.
Reuters reported that Trump's advisers intend to try to pressure the two countries into negotiations using a "carrot and stick" strategy. According to the news agency, Washington will stop military aid to Kiev if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to negotiate and will provide more weapons to Kiev if Russian President Vladimir Putin shows an unwillingness to engage in diplomacy.
However, as of last week, Mr. Trump had yet to convene a working group to come up with a unified peace plan.
A deal between Russia and Ukraine would likely depend on the direct involvement of Mr Trump, President Vladimir Putin and President Zelensky.
Zelensky, who had previously firmly rejected the possibility of making concessions to Moscow, has recently softened his stance on the issue, telling Kyodo News on Dec. 2 that Ukraine “may even cede some territories that we cannot take back today” to Russia and try to take them back through diplomatic means later.
The Ukrainian leader also stressed that securing NATO membership for Kiev should be a condition for concluding a ceasefire, as this would put Ukraine in "a strong position" in the event of a new conflict with Russia.
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that Moscow was ready to seek a diplomatic solution. To achieve that, the “root causes” of the conflict must be eliminated, including a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion and an end to “systematic” violations of the rights of Russian speakers by Kiev, Lavrov said.
During the 2024 US presidential campaign, Mr. Trump repeatedly declared that he would end the Russia-Ukraine conflict within 24 hours if he was re-elected, but never explained exactly how he would do this.
