'Witkoff plan' favors Putin? Political analyst weighs in on media leak

According to Saakian, the plan allegedly presented to Putin by Witkoff does not actually align with the interests declared by the Russians. That is why it is very strange that Putin's advisor Yury Ushakov called it "acceptable."

Why the plan is unacceptable for Russia

In reality, the plan proposed by Witkoff puts an end to many of Russia's actual goals that it had intended to achieve.

"This includes the continued militarization of Ukraine, the possibility of NATO expansion, and the absence of legal recognition of Russian-occupied territories. These are three things that indicate Ukraine will be able to reclaim its territories," the political analyst explained.

As a result, a kind of "competition" begins — who will collapse first, and who will be able to take revenge in the next war. For Russia, this is unacceptable because no one will allow the Russian regime to grow stronger. Meanwhile, Ukraine will strengthen its army, may join NATO, and prepare to regain its territories.

At the same time, the US is ready to "trade" the lifting of sanctions on Russia for acceptance of NATO expansion, Ukraine's accession to the alliance, and the militarization of the Ukrainian state. Russia faces a dilemma — either accept the lifting of restrictions and return to the hydrocarbon market, or reject the American conditions and keep the sanctions in place.

"In essence, it's a mirror offer compared to the previous one — where some points were unacceptable for Russia and others were favorable. Now it's the same," Saakian noted.

How Ukraine views the proposal

For Ukraine, the "Witkoff proposals" are also unacceptable, at least from a tactical-operational standpoint:

• There are no guarantees that Russia would be punished for violating the agreements — which would most likely happen.

• Ukraine would give up territories: not de jure forever, but for 49 or 99 years. In reality, this would only last until the next war with Russia.

• The plan does not address the fate of Russian assets and reparations, which should go toward Ukraine's reconstruction after Russia's invasion.

"In other words, from Ukraine's perspective, the plan looks tactically bad. But why is it not strategically unacceptable, just bad? Because what remains is militarization, NATO movement, the reconstruction of Ukraine, and so on," Saakian noted.

Thus, Ukraine secures the possibility of reclaiming its lost territories through military means, while Russia is guaranteed the impossibility of destroying Ukraine.

Why the plan is "attractive" but unrealistic

In general, the only real winner from this "attractive" plan would be the United States. However, the plan is simply unfeasible. So there is no need to worry about what has been "put on the table," Saakian assured — it is impossible to implement anyway.

"But Ukraine can safely say something like 'let's try it,' because there are far fewer traps for us. The goal is for Russia to reject such a proposal — or for Russia to begin implementing it, in which case it could become a tool for Trump to further pressure Russia, to keep pushing it. Because it's obvious that at some point, just a step later, Russia will want to sabotage the proposal, since it poses a whole range of strategic risks for them," he said.

The political analyst added that Ushakov is clearly "being disingenuous" when he claims the plan is acceptable for Russia. Moscow does not reject it outright in order to buy time, arrange a meeting between Putin and Trump, and try to flood the space with questionable initiatives of its own.

"But I don't believe that Russia accepted this plan. And I don't believe that Ushakov was seriously authorized to say that Russia is ready to end the war with a ceasefire — though not peace — under such terms. Because that contradicts the entire course Russia has chosen," Saakian concluded.

"Witkoff plan"

On August 6, US President's special envoy Witkoff allegedly presented a “very favorable offer" during a meeting with Putin, according to media reports. The proposal reportedly included a gradual lifting of sanctions and a return to importing Russian energy resources.

On August 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office responded to the so-called "Witkoff Plan." Presidential advisor Dmytro Lytvyn stated that the rumors about a war-freeze plan allegedly proposed by Witkoff to Putin are fake.

Witkoff himself, along with other US officials, has not yet commented on the leak. The White House has also remained silent.