President Volodymyr Zelensky listened on speakerphone one week ago as President Trump's advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner read, line by line, from a 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine.
Why it matters: The existence of the plan would emerge two days later on Axios. By Friday, Zelensky was warning the Ukrainian people that Trump's plan — and the pressure he faced to sign it — had plunged Ukraine into one of the most difficult moments of its existence.
- Zelensky's participation by phone in the meeting last weekend between his national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, and Trump's team has not previously been reported, and offers more clarity on when he was brought into the talks.
- The process that led to that dramatic meeting, and to the 28-point plan, began around a month earlier on a flight back to Miami from the Middle East.
This account is based on interviews with six U.S. officials, two Ukrainian officials and another source with knowledge, most of whom were directly involved in talks on the plan.
How it started
On that Oct. 22 flight, Kushner and Witkoff pivoted from discussing the Gaza deal they'd helped deliver to the war in Ukraine.
- Trump imposed sanctions on Russia that same day for the first time since returning to office, and the peace process was almost entirely stuck. The pair wanted to repeat their approach from Gaza — draft a plan, put it on the table, and figure out how to get both sides to agree.
- Three days later, Witkoff and Kushner met President Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev for dinner in Miami, and again for several hours on Sunday.
- The Russian envoy, who also heads Russia's sovereign wealth fund, told Axios in a Nov. 17 interview that they'd worked to put understandings reached in the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska down on paper.
- The goal was to produce a framework "basically saying, 'How do we really bring, finally, lasting security to Europe, not just Ukraine,'" Dmitriev said.
The result of the meetings with Dmitriev was the initial draft for what became the 28-point U.S. plan.
- Dmitriev didn't mention a forthcoming U.S. peace plan in the interview with Axios, but did say he was optimistic about the direction of the talks. "We feel the Russian position is really being heard."
- By then, Witkoff and Kushner had Trump's go-ahead. "Witkoff and Kushner wouldn't have engaged in talks with the Russians and the Ukrainians on a new plan without getting a green light from Trump," said one U.S. official.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio was "read-in every step of the way," the official added. Vice President Vance was also in the loop.
The unlikely envoy
It was Vance's idea to tap Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a Yale Law classmate, to bring the 28-point plan to Ukraine, a senior administration official said.
- Driscoll was already planning to visit Ukraine with a large military delegation to discuss defense tech and strategy. With a few days' notice, the White House told him to expedite his travel plans and prepare to negotiate peace.
- "As you can imagine, we wipe the calendar, go into full planning and prep mode," another U.S. official told Axios.
- "He's taking policy briefs. He's taking backgrounds, history of the war, all sorts of things all the way through the weekend, and then they scream out of here."
Meanwhile, Witkoff and Kushner met with Zelensky's adviser Umerov over two days at Witkoff's home in Miami.
- Also on hand was a senior Qatari official who has good relations with the U.S. envoys, with Umerov, and with Putin.
- Witkoff and Kushner briefed Umerov on the plan and incorporated some of his input. It was Umerov's idea to call Zelensky so he could hear the plan straight from Trump's team.
- "They talked and tried to read to the president the points of the plan, but it's not really possible to do such a thing over the phone," said a Ukrainian official, who strongly objected to the plan and to how it was presented.
Nevertheless, the U.S. team emerged from the meeting optimistic that the Ukrainians were on board. Witkoff planned to travel to Turkey on Wednesday to discuss it directly with Zelensky.
- That meeting didn't happen. The U.S. side felt the Ukrainians were backtracking on their willingness to engage with the plan.
- A Ukrainian official blamed miscommunication, saying Zelensky's team thought Witkoff and Kushner were just offering initial ideas, while the Americans considered it a formal proposal.
- It would now be up to Driscoll to formally present the plan to Zelensky in person on Thursday, and press him to agree to it.
The news breaks
On Nov. 18, a U.S. official told Axios about the 28 points and the general areas they covered: peace in Ukraine; security guarantees; security in Europe; future U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine.
- Another U.S. official confirmed Dmitriev had been consulted, while a Ukrainian official confirmed the plan had been presented to Umerov.
- That night, we published our first story.
The news was met with bewilderment by officials in European capitals, and by many in Washington and Kyiv who weren't yet in the loop.
- Many reacted with horror once details were reported by Axios and other outlets on Wednesday. Among other harsh concessions, Ukraine would be asked to give up additional territory beyond what Russia already held.
- When European officials initially called the State Department and asked for clarifications, they were told it was not a "Trump plan," two diplomats said.
But Trump not only embraced the plan, he demanded Ukraine sign it by Thanksgiving.
- After the Zelensky-Driscoll meeting on Thursday, a U.S. official claimed an "aggressive timeline for signature" had been agreed.
- A Ukrainian official said Zelensky agreed to use the plan as the basis for negotiations because he knew he couldn't afford to reject it. The pressure was growing by the hour.
- Zelensky made his appeal to the Ukrainian people on Friday. Ukraine risked "losing our dignity" or losing the support of the U.S., he warned. "They will expect an answer from us."
The walk-back
At least some in the Trump administration, Rubio among them, believed things had moved too far too fast.
- The senior administration official claimed Driscoll "got out ahead of things" by holding "full-blown peace talks" with senior Ukrainian officials.
- "Of course, the Ukrainians are saying we're trying to force them into a Russian deal. This is what they do. It wasn't true. Not one minute. But we got out-boxed a little," the official said.
- It was Trump himself who declared the Thanksgiving deadline, partly out of annoyance with Zelensky. The senior administration official claimed the president felt by Friday that things were getting too messy.
- He dispatched Rubio to Geneva, along with Witkoff, Kushner and Driscoll.
Rubio's statements in public and private left some confusion over how serious the U.S. plan was, and how he personally felt about it.
- But once on the ground in Switzerland, Rubio told the Ukrainian team the U.S. wasn't prepared to meet until they issued a statement that this wasn't a Russian plan and the Ukrainians had input.
- The American side accused the Ukrainians of leaking negative details in the U.S. press. The Ukrainians agreed to issue a positive statement to clear the air.
- It wasn't all bad news for the Ukrainians, though. For one thing, the U.S. side had started referring to the 28 points as a "framework," not a final offer. And in the meeting, the U.S. showed willingness to incorporate aspects of Ukraine's counter-proposals.
State of play
While the U.S. and Ukrainian sides both released an upbeat statement on Sunday's talks in Geneva, the hours-long meetings were tense.
- Rubio hailed "the most productive day we have had on this issue." Back in D.C., Trump accused the Ukrainians of ingratitude.
- As for Trump's Thanksgiving deadline, Rubio said the real goal was to get a deal "as soon as possible."
- If the talks show more progress, Trump and Zelensky might meet this week or early next week, two sources with knowledge say. No date has been set.
