Trump to call for ceasefire during Ukraine-Russia talks, CNN

While the strategy details are still being worked out, Trump officials are likely to insist on an early ceasefire to temporarily freeze the conflict while both sides engage in negotiations, sources say.

Trump's administration is also expected to push for European allies and NATO to shoulder a larger share of the burden in supporting Ukraine.

"We need to bring this to a responsible end," Waltz told Fox over the weekend. "We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it."

Before his election victory, Trump repeatedly claimed that the Russia-Ukraine war would not have started if he had been President. He often asserted that he could resolve the conflict within a day.

During his September presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump declined to commit to Ukraine's victory over Russia. Later that month, he suggested Ukraine should have "given up a little bit" to Moscow, stating at a campaign event that "any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have right now."

The plans Waltz is reviewing include a proposal from Kellogg, who served as a national security adviser during Trump's first administration.

"I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration. He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!" Trump posted.

Plans

Kellogg's plan envisions continued US military aid to Ukraine on the condition that Kyiv participates in peace talks with Russia and adopts "a formal US policy to seek a ceasefire and negotiated settlement of the Ukraine conflict." Ukraine's desire to join NATO would be "put off" for an extended period to bring Russia to the negotiating table.

Waltz also considered a separate proposal endorsed by former ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell. Grenell previously voiced support for creating "autonomous regions" within Ukraine but did not provide detailed explanations of how this would work.

"Autonomous regions can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but you got to work through those details," Grenell told Bloomberg in July.

Another idea being floated is to allow Russia to keep the territories it currently holds in exchange for Ukraine's NATO membership. However, according to sources, few in Trump's circle seem eager to invite Ukraine into NATO soon. This sentiment is at least partially shared by the Biden administration, which had stated that Ukraine can join NATO only after the war ends.

Ukraine was among the topics Waltz discussed with Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan during a meeting last week.

A Trump transition team representative stated that the elected President intends to end the war.

"As President Trump has said on the campaign trail, he is the only person who can bring both sides together in order to negotiate peace, and work towards ending the war and stopping the killing," Trump communications director Steven Cheung said.

Uncertainty over final strategy

Sources caution that it is "too early" to predict what the Trump team's final strategy for ending the war in Ukraine will look like.

Trump's positions and messaging tactics often shift, particularly on foreign policy matters, suggesting that the planning process for Ukraine is likely to be unstable, noted a source familiar with internal transition discussions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that "from our side, we must do everything so that this war ends next year, ends through diplomatic means." However, Zelenskyy criticized the idea of a ceasefire without Western security guarantees.

"Ceasefire? We tried that in 2014, we tried to reach it and then we lost Crimea and then we had the full-scale war in 2022," Zelenskyy said at a conference in Budapest earlier this month.

Zelensky, who met Trump in New York in September, told journalists in Budapest that "I believe that President Trump really wants a quick decision" to end the war. "He [Trump] wants this war to be finished. We all want to end this war, but a fair ending… If it is very fast, it's going to be a loss for Ukraine."

"Thug" Putin

Trump's allies appointed to senior national security roles have already publicly indicated that the future US President is considering a range of options to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiation table, including some that appear to contradict his previously stated views on the conflict.

Sebastian Gorka, recently appointed by Trump as one of Waltz's senior deputies, called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "thug" and stated that the new administration might increase US military aid to Ukraine beyond current levels to end the war quickly.

"I will give one tip away that the President has mentioned, he will say to that murderous former KGB colonel, that thug who runs the Russian federation, you will negotiate now or the aid we have given to Ukraine thus far will look like peanuts. That's how he will force those gentlemen to come to an arrangement that stops the bloodshed," Gorka said during a recent interview on Times Radio.

At the same time, according to a source familiar with the ongoing discussions about ending the war, senior Trump officials expect the elected US President to want to take a similarly tough stance on Ukraine and may threaten to withhold aid if they don't come to the negotiating table.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has allowed Ukraine to use long-range American missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia. For months, Zelenskyy had been publicly lobbying the United States for the green light to use ATACMS missiles, but the United States only relented in mid-November.

The decision came shortly after the Biden administration lifted a de facto ban on American contractors working in Ukraine to speed up repairs of modern systems such as F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile defense systems.

As RBC-Ukraine reported earlier, neither Trump himself nor anyone from his current team approached Kyiv with concrete peace proposals. For now, Trump is more focused on domestic political issues, which have always been his priority.

Kyiv expects that Ukraine will be paid attention to soon. According to RBC-Ukraine sources, Trump's team aims to have a ready solution for Ukraine by January 20, so that it can be implemented as quickly as possible once he has official powers.