Donald Trump's advisers are publicly proposing an end to the war in Ukraine, including handing over large parts of the country to Russia in the coming days, according to an analysis by Reuters and interviews with Trump's close associates. However, there is no possibility that Ukraine would be able to join NATO even if it were asked to leave its territory to end the war.
The proposals for ending the war in Ukraine by former Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, Trump's special observer for Russia-Ukraine affairs, and three of Trump's top advisers have some similarities. One of them is to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. Donald Trump's advisers are trying to follow a 'carrot and stick' policy to force Moscow and Kiev to negotiate. In the meantime, it has become clear that aid will be cut off if Kiev does not agree to talks and that aid will be increased if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not come to the talks.
Trump repeatedly promised during his election campaign to end the three-year war within 24 hours of taking office on January 20 — and even earlier if possible. But he has never made clear how he will do so.
Former national security officials and analysts say the conflict will make it difficult for Trump to fulfill that promise. But a full account of the statements made by Trump’s advisers provides a glimpse into the structure of Trump’s potential peace plan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — still reeling from a manpower shortage and growing territorial losses from the war — has signaled that he is ready to talk. While he still wants NATO membership, he said this week that a diplomatic solution must be found to regain the occupied territories.
But analysts say it will be difficult for Trump to persuade Putin to negotiate, as Putin is still pressuring Ukraine and seeking to gain more territory.
“Putin has no problem with that, as long as Ukraine abandons its bid to join NATO and accepts the four regions as part of Russia,” said Rumer, a former top U.S. intelligence analyst who now works with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank. “Putin is ready to come to the table for a ceasefire and negotiations,” Rumer said. “Putin will probably take a lot more time to seize more territory and wait to see how Trump reacts.”
In May, Reuters reported that Putin was ready to negotiate a ceasefire but did not want to return the territory he had seized. He also said he was ready to continue fighting if Kiev and the West did not accept it.
Russia has occupied Crimea since 2014. It also controls about 80 percent of Ukraine's Donbas region and more than 70 percent of Zaporizhia and Kherson, as well as parts of Mykolaiv and Kharkiv.
Trump has yet to take any effective steps to end the Ukraine-Russia war. But four Trump advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a peace deal would depend largely on direct personal engagement between Trump, Putin and Zelensky.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "It is not possible to comment on individual statements without knowing the full scope of the plan."
Trump spokesman Levitt said Trump said he would do whatever was necessary to restore peace in the world and make America strong and unstoppable. An official who served on Trump's National Security Council during his last term said there were currently three main proposals. Among these are a proposal from Kellogg, a plan from newly elected Vice President J.D. Vance, and a plan from Trump's former acting intelligence chief, Richard Grenell.
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