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by IANS |
Washington, Nov 20 (IANS) The Trump administration has drafted a new 28-point plan and held quiet and deep consultations with Russia in a renewed push to restart peace talks aimed at ending the Ukraine crisis, according to local media reports.
The plan is inspired by US President Donald Trump's push for the deal in Gaza, Xinhua news agency reports, quoting US online media outlet Axios.
According to the report, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff is leading the effort to craft the plan, which is organised into four broad sections: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, security in Europe, and future US relations with Russia and Ukraine.
"The president has been clear that it is time to stop the killing and make a deal to end the war. President Trump believes that there is a chance to end this senseless war if flexibility is shown," a White House official told Axios.
How the plan addresses some of the most contentious issues, particularly territorial control in eastern Ukraine, remains unclear, as does the reaction from Kiev and its European allies, said the report.
In late October, Witkoff and other members of Trump's team discussed the plan extensively with Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami, Florida, said the report.
In an interview with Axios on Monday, Dmitriev expressed optimism about the deal's chances of success, saying that, unlike past efforts, "we feel the Russian position is really being heard."
Witkoff discussed the plan with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's national security adviser Rustem Umerov in a meeting earlier this week in Miami, a Ukrainian official confirmed to Axios.
Peace talks on Ukraine have stalled since Trump and Putin met in August in Alaska. Moscow rejected Trump's proposal for an immediate freeze in fighting last month, prompting Trump to cancel a planned summit in Hungary and impose sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies.
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