U.S. President Donald Trump clarified on November 25 that Ukraine is not bound by a fixed deadline to accept the originally drafted 28-point proposal for ending the war, retracting earlier statements suggesting he expected a deal by Thanksgiving. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “The deadline for me is when it’s over,” and added that U.S. negotiators are making progress in discussions with both Moscow and Kyiv. He confirmed that Russia has agreed to “some concessions,” although he did not provide specifics.

The initial 28-point framework, prepared behind closed doors by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in coordination with Kremlin aide Kirill Dmitriev, had sparked concerns that Washington might pressure Ukraine into accepting terms favoring Moscow. Reports indicate that the proposal was later trimmed to 19 points during discussions among U.S., Ukrainian, and European delegations in Geneva. In response to criticism of the plan, Trump described it as “just a map” rather than a formal agreement. He said, “That was not a plan. It was a concept. And from there, they’re taking each one of the 28 points, and then you get down to 22 points. A lot of them were solved, and actually very favorably solved. So we’ll see what happens.”

Trump also noted that his envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to travel to Moscow next week to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. In prior comments, Trump had pressed for a peace deal by Thanksgiving but has since softened the timeline, stating that the aim is to reach an agreement “as soon as possible.”

Bloomberg reported that in an October 14 phone call with Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, Witkoff proposed working on a ceasefire plan and arranging a Trump-Putin call before President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House, drawing on the recently concluded Gaza agreement as a model. Trump said he had not personally listened to the recording but was unsurprised, describing such efforts as standard negotiating practice: “That’s what a dealmaker does. You know, because he's got to sell this to Ukraine. He's got to sell Ukraine to Russia. You've got to say, look, they want this. You've got to convince them of this. You know, that's a very standard form of negotiation.”

Further reading: Kremlin-Scripted 'Peace Plan' Push: Trump Calls Witkoff’s Role 'Standard Negotiation'

Regarding the military situation, Trump said Russia currently holds the upper hand and that it is in Ukraine’s interest to strike a settlement. He added, “Some Ukraine territory might be gotten by Russia anyway over the next couple of months,” while emphasizing that European partners are coordinating security guarantees for Kyiv. He described ongoing discussions as complex, noting that both sides are negotiating territorial adjustments and border arrangements, saying, “You can’t go through the middle of a house. You can’t go through the middle of a highway. So they’re trying to work something. It’s a complicated process, it doesn’t go that quickly.”