Trump Announces Peace Efforts In Russia and Ukraine

On Tuesday, President Trump shared plans for U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to travel to Russia, while Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will head to Ukraine. This is all part of what Trump described as a last-ditch effort to secure a peace deal aimed at ending Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump mentioned that the initial 28-point peace proposal from the U.S. had been revised with input from both sides, leaving just a few points of contention remaining.

“I’ve instructed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with the Russian President to finalize this peace plan. Putin is in Moscow, and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is set to meet his Ukrainian counterpart simultaneously,” Trump stated.

Trump also indicated that he would receive updates about the situation from Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Army Pete Hegseth, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

He expressed optimism about potentially meeting President Zelenskiy and President Putin soon, but only when an agreement is either finalized or very close. “This issue is crucial. Let’s all hope for peace soon!” he added.

Previously, Trump had aimed for a peace agreement to be reached by Thanksgiving. However, his original 28-point ceasefire plan received backlash for being perceived as biased toward Russia. Consequently, the U.S. and Ukraine created a new 19-point ceasefire plan over the weekend.

On Tuesday, Trump asserted that the two nations were “very close” to reaching a revised peace accord following recent tensions.

What remains uncertain is how Russia might respond to this new agreement. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made it clear that any deal straying from the initial 28-point plan wouldn’t be acceptable to the Russian government. He has suggested that this original proposal, which Trump and Putin reportedly approved at their summit in Alaska last August, would require significant concessions from Ukraine while asking little of Russia.

Despite this, it seems Russia could hesitate to reject the new plan outright to avoid antagonizing Trump. Some sources speculate that while Russia may endorse the idea, they wouldn’t likely commit to actually enforcing a ceasefire.

Experts express concern that any agreement with Russia will face skepticism from Trump’s administration, especially given Trump’s past disregard for Russia’s intentions to extend the conflict, alleging that Putin had been “leading him on.”