The first proposal concerned unblocking Russian sovereign assets frozen in the West. According to the newspaper, the money was viewed as an upfront incentive for a partial truce rather than a reward after it took effect. When a similar idea was discussed last year, the sum mentioned was up to $100 billion.
As a second point, Washington returned to a plan to sell Lukoil's foreign assets to a group of Middle Eastern investors. The Financial Times wrote that a group including former Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, the brother of the UAE president Sheikh Tahnoun and the Qatari al-Hayyat family is vying for the purchase. According to the NYT, some of them have business ties to the American negotiators.
The third proposal was the resumption of exports of Belarusian potash fertilizers, which Minsk cannot supply because of restrictions. Belarus is an ally of the Kremlin.
According to the publication, Ukrainian officials did not directly reject any of the points but demanded safeguards. Kyiv proposed mirror payments to Ukraine from frozen Russian assets on a "dollar for dollar" basis, or guarantees of additional military aid in the event of any violation of the ceasefire regime.
The talks began in late September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. According to Ukrainian officials, at the time they were struck by how far Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had gone in their proposals to Russia. On September 5, both envoys of Donald Trump arrived in Moscow, and the next day they went to Kyiv. According to The New York Times, it was during the meeting in Moscow that Vladimir Putin personally raised the issue of selling Lukoil's assets.
The NYT does not specify what stage the discussions are at now. A meeting of the Ukrainian delegation with Trump's envoys in Miami ended without a breakthrough, Ukrainian officials said on October 10. The Kremlin said the day before that peace talks would not resume immediately.