The shadows of Vladimir Putin (L) and US President Donald Trump (R) as they attend a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, 15 August 2025. Photo: EPA/SERGEY BOBYLEV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL
Washington is hoping to establish a new framework for ending the war in Ukraine by the end of the month and possibly “as soon as this week”, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing senior White House officials.
However, it appears that the new deal has been in development without Kyiv’s participation. US news portal Axios reported earlier on Wednesday that US officials were “optimistic” about a 28-point plan developed by US Special Envoy for Ukraine Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev who met in Miami in late October, though no Ukrainian or European representatives were involved in the discussions.
“We don’t really care about the Europeans,” a White House official told Politico on Wednesday when asked about Europe’s involvement in the potential peace deal. “It’s about Ukraine accepting.”
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv have officially confirmed that any new peace negotiations are underway. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian business daily RBC on Wednesday that Moscow had “nothing new to report” on the US-Russian talks since the summit in Anchorage in August.
However, Dmitriev expressed satisfaction with the ongoing negotiations in a comment given to Axios on Monday, saying: “We feel the Russian position is really being heard.”
Witkoff, meanwhile, was expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Türkiye on Wednesday, but postponed the trip for unknown reasons, Axios reported.
Instead, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll travelled to Kyiv this week, accompanied by two four-star generals and other senior US military officials, in the highest-level visit by the Trump administration to Ukraine since February, Politico has reported.
The delegation was slated to meet with Ukrainian military leaders, lawmakers and Zelensky from Wednesday, though it is unclear whether the meeting with Zelensky has gone ahead, as he is currently on a visit to Ankara.
The mood inside the White House is bullish, Politico wrote, with Trump hoping Zelensky would “accept what’s on offer” due to pressure on the battlefield and the ongoing corruption scandal involving officials linked to Zelensky’s administration.
