Top administration officials, including Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Vice President JD Vance, State Secretary Marco Rubio, and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, have quietly developed the plan over the last several weeks in consultation with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ukrainian officials.
“The plan focuses on giving both sides security guarantees to secure a lasting peace,” the senior official told NBC News without outlining details.
“It includes things Ukraine wants and needs to have a durable peace.”
The framework for the peace deal still needs to be presented to the Ukrainians and may be finalized during the meetings between Ukrainian officials and an American Army delegation that arrived in Kyiv on Nov. 19. According to two U.S. officials, a European official, and a source close to the Ukrainian government, the delegation has two missions: discussing military strategy and technology and helping to revive the peace process.
However, a source close to the Ukrainian government and a European official with knowledge of the matter said that Kyiv did not take part in shaping the proposed peace plan. Ukraine was informed of the plan's general outlines but was not provided a detailed briefing or asked to contribute.
Ukrainian officials view the proposal's timing as no coincidence amid a damaging corruption scandal facing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government. They see the proposal as an attempt by the Kremlin to take advantage of potentially weakened Ukrainian leadership.
American efforts to revive peace negotiations appear to be gaining momentum. However, the Kremlin has shown no sign of changing its terms for ending the war and played down a media report that the United States was working on a 28-point peace plan.
"Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas. And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions," Rubio posted on X on Nov. 19
"That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict."