WASHINGTON – The US-backed 28-point proposal to end the war in Ukraine, which became public last week, drew in part from a document written by Russian officials and sent to the Trump administration in October, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The Russian side provided the document—an informal diplomatic “non-paper” that laid out Moscow’s conditions for stopping the war—to senior US officials in mid-October, shortly after President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, the sources said.

The non-paper repeated positions Russia had previously advanced in negotiations, including demands that Ukraine had already rejected, such as giving up a substantial portion of its eastern territory. This is the first confirmation that the Russian document, first reported by Reuters in October, served as a key reference for the 28-point US plan.

Neither the US State Department nor the Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington responded to requests for comment.

The White House did not address the non-paper directly but pointed to Trump’s statements expressing optimism about the peace plan. Trump said he had instructed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, while Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll would hold discussions with Ukrainian officials. It remains unclear why or how the administration came to incorporate the Russian proposal into its own.

Some senior US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, believed that Ukraine would reject Moscow’s demands outright, according to the sources. After receiving the document, Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which the non-paper was discussed, the sources added.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Rubio acknowledged receiving “numerous written non-papers and things of this nature” but did not provide details.

Since Axios first revealed the 28-point plan last week, skepticism has grown among US officials and lawmakers who see it as largely reflecting Russian positions rather than a credible peace proposal.

Despite this, the US has pressed Ukraine to engage with the plan, warning that military aid could be reduced if Kyiv refused to sign on.

The plan was shaped in part during an October meeting in Miami involving Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of one of Russia’s sovereign wealth funds. Only a small number of State Department and White House officials were informed of that meeting, two sources told Reuters.

On Nov 25, Bloomberg reported that Witkoff had advised senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov on how President Putin should speak to Trump. Call transcripts obtained by Bloomberg indicated that Ushakov and Witkoff mentioned a possible “20-point plan” as early as Oct 14, which later expanded through discussions with Dmitriev.

After widespread criticism, the US proposal sparked intense diplomatic activity across several continents. According to ABC News, nine of the original 28 points were removed following negotiations between senior US and Ukrainian officials.

A bipartisan group of senators said on Nov 22 that Rubio had described the plan not as a US initiative but as a Russian wish list, though the White House and State Department firmly denied that he used that characterization.

During subsequent talks in Geneva with European and Ukrainian representatives, a US delegation including Rubio agreed to revise or remove the most pro-Russian elements.

Driscoll is currently holding talks with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi, while Ukrainian officials are also in the UAE for discussions with the US team, a US official said.

On Nov 25, Ukrainian officials said they supported the revised framework that emerged from the latest meetings but emphasized that the most sensitive issues—especially territorial concessions—would need to be resolved in a potential meeting between Zelensky and Trump.