IGBOZURUOKE MEDIA

The US and Russia are working on a secret 28-point peace plan inspired by the ceasefire deal in Gaza to end the war in Ukraine.

The proposal covers a ceasefire, security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe and future US relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Axios reported.

The exact breakdown of the 28 points is not clear, and questions remain on long-standing issues such as territorial control in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin told Mr Trump in Alaska that he wanted Kyiv’s forces to withdraw from the rest of the Donbas region in exchange for an end to the fighting.

Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s peace envoy, is leading negotiations with Moscow, who dispatched Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy, to Miami last month.

The White House said army officials were also being included in peace talks in the hope that Moscow would respond better to military officials

Mr Dmitriev told Axios he was optimistic about the deal because “we feel the Russian position is really being heard”.

He said the US would explain the “benefits” of the peace plan to Ukraine and its European allies, and said negotiations were taking place at a time when Moscow was making progress on the ground.

“It’s happening with the background of Russia definitely having additional successes on the battlefield,” he said, adding that Moscow’s leverage was growing.

Direct negotiations between Russia and the US will raise fears in Kyiv and European capitals that Ukraine is potentially being frozen out of talks on its future.

Mr Trump has repeatedly shifted stances throughout the conflict, calling Putin “crazy” before hosting him in Alaska during the summer, and labelling Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, a “dictator” before urging him to win back all of his country’s territory.

The US president has led multiple failed attempts to resolve the conflict since returning to the White House, sending his top officials for talks with Russia.

He proposed another peace summit with Putin in Budapest last month, though the meeting was put on hold after Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said Moscow had shown no willingness to shift its hardline position to end the war.

Mr Witkoff had been expected to speak with Mr Zelensky in Turkey on Wednesday, but the meeting was postponed.

He has already discussed the plan with Rustem Umerov, Mr Zelensky’s national security adviser.

A Ukrainian official said: “We know the Americans are working on something.”

Two US army officials made a rare and unannounced visit to Kyiv on Wednesday to revive peace talks with Ukraine’s leaders.

Dan Driscoll, the army secretary, and Gen Randy George, the army chief of staff, are expected to meet with Mr Zelensky, senior Ukrainian army commanders and politicians, according to Politico.

Mr Driscoll will also meet with Russian officials at a later date, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Overnight, Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least nine people across the country, Mr Zelensky said. Some 470 drones and 48 missiles were launched by Russia across Ukraine, including in Kharkiv, Lviv, and Ternopil.

The Ukrainian president said: “Every brazen attack against ordinary life proves that the pressure on Russia is still insufficient. Effective sanctions and assistance for Ukraine can change this.”

Poland and Romania, which border Ukraine, both scrambled fighter jets early on Wednesday in response to the attacks.

On the front line, intense battles have continued in the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, a critical Ukrainian logistics hub and one of the main contested territories over the last year of the conflict.

Pokrovsk, which has seen up to 500 troops enter the city, is expected to fall to Russia in what would be Moscow’s most significant military triumph since the fall of Bakhmut in 2023.  (Yahoo.com)