US officials have revealed key details of the Trump administration’s peace talks with Ukraine, including an update on the $300 billion plan to boost America’s economy.
The Department of State on Friday outlined the progress made during meetings between US and Ukrainian officials aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Special Envoy for Peace Steven Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, sat down with Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, and Chief of the General Staff, General Andriy Hnatov.
US and Ukrainian officials have met six times within the past two weeks and are scheduled to reconvene on Saturday.
During the most recent discussion, which took place in Miami, they spoke about the results of a separate meeting Kushner and Witkoff had with Russian leaders.
At that meeting, Kirill Dmitriev – Putin‘s ‘handpicked’ negotiator – reportedly pushed for the $300 billion of Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe to be used for joint US-Russian investment projects, and a ‘US-led reconstruction’ of Ukraine.
On Friday, a Department of State spokesperson said: ‘Parties separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, joint US-Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.’
‘The Americans and Ukrainians also agreed on the framework of security arrangements and talked about necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace,’ they added.
US and Ukrainian officials have been meeting to discuss achieving peace in Ukraine (pictured: a meeting on November 30)
Donald Trump (pictured on Thursday) devised a 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine
‘Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings.’
Ultimately, US officials said that ‘credible steps’ toward a ceasefire and preventative measures for renewed aggression have been underscored.
These plans are ‘designed to make the nation stronger and more prosperous than before the war,’ as per the statement.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported how Trump’s team has been negotiating with Russia on how to ‘bring their $2 trillion economy in from the cold.’
Along with the plan to use Russia’s frozen assets for a joint investment project with the US, there were also reportedly talks of pursuing a joint mission between Elon Musk‘s SpaceX and Russia to reach Mars – a far cry from the ‘space race’ of the 20th century.
Russia’s strategy, according to the report, is to convince the Trump administration that it is a ‘land of opportunity’ – not a threat.
The Kremlin reportedly hopes to ‘reshape the economic map of Europe’, while also creating friction between the US and its allies on the continent and beyond, potentially giving Putin the last laugh in negotiations.
‘Russia has so many vast resources, vast expanses of land,’ Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal.
Special Envoy for Peace Steven Witkoff (right) and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner (left) attended Friday’s meeting (pictured: Witkoff and Kushner on July 13)
‘If we do all that, and everybody’s prospering and they’re all a part of it, and there’s upside for everybody, that’s going to naturally be a bulwark against future conflicts there. Because everybody’s thriving.’
Presidential advisors see post-war Russia as an opportunity for American investors, according to the WSJ.
‘It’s Trump’s “Art of the Deal” to say, “Look, I’m settling this thing and there’s huge economic benefits for doing that for America, right?”‘ one of them reportedly said.
This comes after Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine was leaked to the media last week. It was widely panned in Europe for being too friendly toward Russia.
It would allow Russia to keep occupied territory in Ukraine – Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk – while also getting Ukrainian land that its soldiers don’t occupy.
The agreement freezes the front lines of the conflict in the Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhia, allowing Russia to effectively hold onto the nearby city of Mariupol and maintain a direct line to the Crimean Peninsula.
Another key point is that Ukraine will forever be barred from NATO, the military alliance Russia has long sought to keep as a buffer.
Sanctions on Russia would also be lifted and the country would be ‘reintegrated into the global economy.’
Volodymyr Zelensky (center), pictured meeting with Ukrainian officials, including Andrii Hnatov (right) and Rustem Umerov (second from right) on November 7
In exchange, Ukraine would receive looser security guarantees from the US and NATO.
Another draft agreement says NATO would treat any attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire ‘transatlantic community’, according to Axios.
Ukraine has repeatedly ruled out ceding land to Russia, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has signaled to his citizens that he likely won’t be able to secure everything he wants.
‘Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest,’ he said in a recorded speech.
‘Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.’
He said he would ‘work calmly’ with the US and all other partners in the peace process.
The war in Ukraine has become a multi-year conflict, beginning when Russia invaded in February 2022.
Many experts say the war actually began in 2014, when Russia formally annexed Crimea, which had been part of an independent Ukraine since 1991.
As Trump campaigned for president last year, he repeatedly claimed he would end the war that had been raging for much of President Joe Biden’s term on ‘day one’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) pictured shaking Witkoff’s hand on August 6 in Russia. The US has discussed ending the war with Russia
The war in Ukraine has become a multi-year conflict, beginning when Russia invaded in February 2022 (pictured: wreckage in Ukraine following a Russian air strike on November 28)
It has proved more complicated than that, with both sides dug in and maintaining diametrically opposed demands.
Trump was frustrated with Zelensky earlier on in his first year in office. He was called into the White House only to get a verbal dressing-down from Trump.
Later, Putin declined to stop engaging in bombing campaigns after he asked them to stop.
