Rubio’s Plan
The new peace proposal for Ukraine — the one Driscoll brought from Geneva to Abu Dhabi — has been rejected by the Russian delegation, writes Bloomberg. They labeled it “worthless” and “a failure,” meaning that, as Lavrov put it, both the letter and the spirit of Anchorage had been erased.
The updated version of Trump’s 28-point plan was effectively rewritten by “a group of editors led by Rubio.” To avoid uncomfortable questions, all contentious points (according to leaks, there were nine of them) were simply removed and placed into “separate documents” to be negotiated later, individually. In the meantime — so that Zelensky could sign something in Washington — the plan previously agreed upon with Russia was essentially gutted.
It was Rubio whom “angry EU officials” called after Ukraine leaked parts of Trump’s plan. It was Rubio whom Trump tasked with “sorting out” the crisis. And Rubio indeed “sorted it out” — by amputating, or more accurately dismembering, the agreed-upon plan into two parts:
— one controversial,
— one non-controversial,
the latter being something Kiev could sign despite being meaningless in terms of moving toward peace.
The White House confirmed that only “a couple of points” in Trump’s peace plan remain unresolved (“work is ongoing”).
Which key elements of Trump’s plan were removed:
📍Transfer of Donbass to Russia and all territorial questions
📍Ukraine’s non-accession to NATO and restrictions on NATO forces/weapons in Ukraine
📍Issues related to frozen Russian assets
📍Limits on the size of the Ukrainian army
📍Amnesty for participants in the conflict
📍Elections in Ukraine
Peskov and Lavrov remain completely outside the U.S.–Russia negotiating loop. For the second day in a row, Peskov has said he knows nothing about what is happening in Abu Dhabi. The Russian Foreign Ministry has not received any “new plan” from the Americans (only the previous version).
Meanwhile, Donald Trump announced plans to impose new “powerful” sanctions on the Russian oil sector and confirmed he will soon completely halt U.S. funding for Ukraine (although he will continue selling weapons and providing intelligence). Whether he intends to support Rubio’s Plan, insist on his own (the one shaped by Whitkoff–Kushner–Dmitriev), or launch a new round of bargaining over a compromise document — one that will inevitably include the two main issues, Donbass and NATO — remains unclear.
Ukraine, for its part, still expects a Zelensky–Trump meeting before the end of this week — before the end of the month. Thanks to Rubio, the Thanksgiving deadline is no longer relevant. Kiev, according to Umerov, is eagerly awaiting the meeting for the final approval of the U.S. peace plan.
The United States has not yet confirmed a date (they are waiting for the outcome of the Abu Dhabi negotiations).
Finnish President Stubb stated that the coming days will be decisive for reaching peace in Ukraine.
Indeed — very soon it will become clear whether Rubio’s Plan successfully torpedoes Trump’s.
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