Global & US Headlines
Trump Team’s Controversial 28-Point Ukraine Peace Draft Triggers EU Counter-Bid and Secret U.S.–Russia Talks
Between 23-25 Nov 2025, a U.S.–written, Russia-friendly 28-point treaty leaked from Geneva prompted an EU counter-proposal and pushed Washington into hush-hush follow-up meetings with Russian envoys in Abu Dhabi, where negotiators trimmed the plan to 19 points.
Focusing Facts
- U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met a Russian delegation for seven hours in Abu Dhabi on 24-25 Nov 2025, marking the first acknowledged direct U.S.–Russia session since the Geneva draft surfaced.
- The original draft capped Ukraine’s armed forces at 600,000 and ceded all Donbas to Moscow; Europe’s 25 Nov counter-paper raises the cap to 800,000 and rejects any de-jure territorial hand-over.
- ABC News reports the revised U.S. text now holds 19 clauses, dropping both the amnesty provision and the troop-limit article.
Context
Great-power ‘peace plans’ that exclude key stakeholders have a checkered record: the 1938 Munich Agreement traded Czech territory without Prague in the room, and the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, negotiated largely over Saigon’s head, unraveled within two years. The Geneva-Abu Dhabi shuttle diplomacy reflects a longer drift toward ad-hoc, leader-centric deal-making that sidelines multilateral institutions built after 1945. It also exposes a structural tension of the post-Cold-War order: Washington still wields outsized coercive leverage, but regional actors—EU, Ukraine, even Russia—can now veto outcomes by withholding legitimacy or endurance. Whether this episode becomes a footnote or a hinge moment will hinge on two century-scale vectors: the durability of U.S. security guarantees outside formal alliances, and the precedent it sets for redrawing borders by force. If a major power can lock in gains through a U.S.-brokered but lopsided treaty, the norm against conquest—arguably the single biggest achievement of the 1945-2020 era—takes a measurable hit.
Perspectives
Mainstream U.S./U.K. broadcast news outlets
ABC News, CBS News, ITV, BBC — Report the Geneva and Abu Dhabi talks as tangible, positive progress toward a negotiated end to the war, crediting U.S. diplomacy for creating new momentum. By foregrounding upbeat quotes from Trump officials and allied leaders, these reports may under-state European skepticism and gloss over the sizeable concessions Ukraine is being pressed to accept.
Libertarian / anti-interventionist commentary
Lew Rockwell — Cast the 28-point proposal as an amateurish U.S. ‘bait-and-switch’ scheme meant to corner Moscow and escalate pressure rather than deliver real peace. Consistently distrusts Washington’s motives and treats Kremlin statements at face value, minimizing Russia’s own aggressive record while spotlighting U.S. duplicity.
Hawkish pro-Ukraine opinion media
New York Post, The New York Times — Warn that Trump’s draft deal dangerously rewards Russian aggression, guts Ukraine’s defenses and will invite a future invasion unless the terms are toughened. Frames any territorial compromise as appeasement and presses for continued Western military aid, reflecting an ideological commitment to a maximal Ukrainian victory and U.S. leadership.