US peace plan would have Ukraine drop NATO bid in exchange for EU membership

The officials familiar with the proposals have only partial knowledge of them, and the details of the document remain unknown, The Economist reported.

Under the plan, Ukraine would also receive an investment program alongside EU membership. For Russia, the plan envisages sanctions relief and a partial restoration of economic and political ties with the West.

A separate provision would create a demilitarized zone in the part of Ukraine's Donetsk region not occupied by Russian troops. The resumption of Russian gas supplies to the EU and the operation of the Nord Stream pipeline may also be discussed.

According to The Economist, such a measure would conflict with EU legislation, and the United States cannot make decisions on Europe's behalf. Sources cited by The New York Times earlier reported that the proposal had already been rejected in the EU.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow on October 21 for the first time in many months and held talks with Vladimir Putin. Before that, he met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo. Witkoff was reported to have brought a new peace plan to Moscow, but its details were not disclosed.

Citing sources in the US government, The Economist said Trump is not seeking Ukraine's capitulation and has probably become "a victim of a Russian information special operation." His key focus is the midterm congressional elections on November 3, ahead of which opinion polls show low ratings for the Republican Party and the president himself.

The outlet's interlocutors claim that special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff "misinterpret the motives" of Putin and are therefore "vulnerable to Russian manipulation." The White House, meanwhile, is convinced that Kyiv does not object to the plan's main provisions.

According to The Economist, Kyiv doubts Moscow's readiness for peace and suspects the Russian side will drag out the negotiations. On October 20, Kushner and Witkoff agreed the plan's main details with Zelensky, and on October 22 Trump said that "for the first time in a long time, we are close to a peace deal."