Donald Trump is reportedly keen on forging business ties with Vladimir Putin as a strategy to conclude the conflict in Ukraine, aiming to channel billions from Russia’s economy into the United States.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Trump’s team, which includes his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, has been negotiating with Russian representatives to thaw the $2 trillion economy and foster economic collaboration.

Witkoff is said to have hosted a meeting at a waterfront estate in Miami Beach with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s chosen negotiator, alongside Kushner. The objective was to formulate a plan to end the hostilities, while positioning American companies to capitalize financially ahead of their European rivals once peace is secured.

Dmitriev reportedly advocated for the utilization of $300 billion in Russian central bank assets, currently frozen in Europe, to fund joint investment ventures with the U.S. and spearhead a U.S.-led reconstruction of Ukraine.

Additionally, there were discussions about a potential collaboration between Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Russia to undertake a mission to Mars, marking a significant shift from the competitive ‘space race’ era of the 20th century.

Russia’s strategy, according to the report, is to convince the Trump administration that they are a ‘land of opportunity’ – and not a threat.

The Kremlin reportedly hopes to ‘reshape the economic map of Europe’, while also creating friction between the US and its allies on the continent and beyond, potentially giving Putin the last laugh in negotiations.

‘Russia has so many vast resources, vast expanses of land,’ Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal.

President Donald Trump’s alternative peace plan could be a massive investment deal with Russia valued at $300 billion

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff have been heavily invovled in the negotiations 

‘If we do all that, and everybody’s prospering and they’re all a part of it, and there’s upside for everybody, that’s going to naturally be a bulwark against future conflicts there. Because everybody’s thriving.’

Presidential advisors see post-war Russia as an opportunity for American investors, according to the WSJ.

‘It’s Trump’s “Art of the Deal” to say, “Look, I’m settling this thing and there’s huge economic benefits for doing that for America, right?”‘ one of them reportedly said.

The Daily Mail has contacted the White House for comment.

This comes after Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine was leaked to the media last week. It was widely panned by European countries as being too friendly to Russia.

It would allow Russia to keep occupied territory in Ukraine – Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk – while also getting Ukrainian land that its soldiers don’t occupy.

The agreement freezes the front lines of the conflict at the Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhia, which would allow Russia to effectively hold onto nearby Mariupol and have a direct line into the Crimean Peninsula.

Another key point is that Ukraine will forever be barred from NATO, the military alliance that Russia has long wanted to keep a buffer between.

Sanctions on Russia would also be lifted and the country would be ”reintegrated into the global economy’.

In exchange, Ukraine would receive looser security guarantees from the US and NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to stop engaging in bombing campaigns in Ukraine after he asked them to stop.

Trump was frustrated with Zelensky earlier on in his first year in office. He got called into the White House only to get a verbal dressing down by Trump

Witkoff reportedly hosted Kirill Dmitriev – Putin’s ‘handpicked’ negotiator – and Kushner at a waterfront Miami Beach estate. Miami’s waterfront is pictured (file image)

Another draft agreement says NATO would treat any attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire ‘transatlantic community’, according to Axios.

Ukraine has repeatedly ruled out handing over land to Russia, but Zelensky has signaled to his citizens that he likely won’t be able to get everything he wants.

‘Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest,’ he said in a recorded speech. ‘Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.’

He said he would ‘work calmly’ with the US and all other partners in the peace process.

The war in Ukraine has become a multi-year conflict, beginning when Russia invaded in February 2022. Many experts say the war actually began in 2014, when Russia formally annexed Crimea, which had been part of an independent Ukraine since 1991.

As Trump campaigned for president last year, he repeatedly claimed he would end the war that had been raging for much of President Joe Biden’s term on ‘day one’.

It has proved more complicated than that, with both sides being fairly dug in and maintaining their diametrically opposed demands.

Trump was frustrated with Zelensky earlier on in his first year in office. He got called into the White House only to get a verbal dressing down by Trump.

Later, Putin declined to stop engaging in bombing campaigns after he asked them to stop.