US splits peace plan into 4 packages with just one about Ukraine — The New York Times

The agency, citing its own sources, writes that negotiations on these four packages are being conducted in parallel. One of the packages concerns issues of Ukrainian sovereignty, such as restrictions on its army and missile range.

The other packages concern territorial concessions, economic cooperation between the US and Russia after the war, and broader issues of European security. The original plan contained 28 points, almost all of which were unacceptable to Ukraine and Europe. Therefore, the plan was revised.

But after that, it was the Russians who expressed their dissatisfaction. The agency notes that Vladimir Putin's reaction to the US peace plan was not unexpected, as his goals have not changed.

"Putin a couple of weeks ago said: It may take long — we are going to achieve our objectives; it may cost more and take longer than we want it to, but we will get it done," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on the matter.

Finding peace issue

The five-hour meeting between US President Donald Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Putin in the Kremlin was the sixth and longest meeting between the Americans and Russians to discuss the plan. It was after this meeting that it became known that the peace proposals would be divided into packages.

Ukraine, for its part, has a number of conditions that it is not willing to compromise on. And in Europe and Washington, there is skepticism about the success of peace initiatives.

"Any deal that ends the war is going to be painful and unfair. It still seems like we’re a long way from a set of terms that meets Russia’s minimum acceptable criteria and that is palatable enough to Ukraine that the United States can convince Kyiv to accept it," said Jennifer Kavanagh, a military analyst at Defense Priorities.

Meeting in Russia and peace plans

Vladimir Putin said he rejected part of the US peace proposals on Ukraine. He also confirmed that the US peace plan currently has 27 points, divided into four packages.

Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow on December 2 to discuss the revised US peace plan with Putin. The meeting lasted five hours, after which Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said that no compromise had been reached yet, but the parties were ready to continue working.

Western media interpreted Ushakov's statement as Putin's complete rejection of the US peace plan. However, the next day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov began to claim in comments to propagandists that this was not the case.