White House aides have a secret plot to lift sanctions against Russia by blackmailing the Ukrainian president, it has been claimed.

The New York Times reports that among those involved is President Trump's personal lawyer who hand delivered a report detailing the plan to Michael Flynn before his resignation as National Security Adviser last week.

The document contains proof of corruption by Ukrainian president Petro O. Poroshenko and could be used against him, according to a Ukrainian lawmaker involved in its creation.

Members of Donald Trump's administration are said to be planning to lift secret sanctions against Russia and may not have discussed their plans with the president (seen yesterday in Melbourne, Florida)

'A lot of people will call me a Russian agent, a U.S. agent, a C.I.A. agent. But how can you find a good solution between our countries if we do not talk?' Andrii V. Artemenko, told the newspaper.

President Trump's aides have not spoken to him about the proposal.

Last week he insisted it had been his decision to cut Flynn out of the administration when suspicion surrounding his plans for Russia grew.

He said he could no longer trust the adviser because he he hadn't told him about being interviewed by the FBI over his ties to the Kremlin in the weeks that followed the inauguration.

The proposal was delivered to Flynn by Michael D. Cohen, the president's lawyer, last week and also has the backing of Artemenko and Felix H. Sater, a businessman with ties to the region.

The New York Times reports that the proposal includes damning information about Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who met with Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday in Munich, Germany

It is billed as a peace plan but also includes 'names of companies' and 'wire transfers' which incriminate Poroshenko.

They hatched the proposal in January at Manhattan's Loews Regency, a luxury hotel on Park Avenue.

Michael Flynn retired as National Security Adviser last week amid claims he had not properly debriefed the White House about his dealings with Russian officials

Mr Cohen reiterated to the Times that the plan is designed to bring about peace in the conflicted region.

'Who doesn’t want to help bring about peace?' he asked.

Flynn resigned from his position as National Security Adviser last week amid claims he did not tell the White House the whole truth about a meeting he previously held with the Russian ambassador.

He is accused of leaving out details of the meeting when later debriefing Vice President Mike Pence about it.

The incident alongside other 'instances' or 'questionable behavior prompted the president to ask for his resignation.

There has been no detail yet as to what exactly Flynn is accused of omitting from the conversation with Vice President Pence.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said all of the general's correspondence with Russian officials had been above board but that the president simply felt he could not longer rely on him.

'We got to a point not based on a legal issue but based on a trust issue where the level of trust between the president and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change,' he said during a press briefing last week.

The president's lawyer Michael D. Cohen (left) devised the plan with Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Artemenko (right)

Barack Obama issued several sanctions against Russian individuals and companies in 2014 for its role in the annexation of Crimea.

He authorized more in December which were opposed by Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and piled even more on to the list in January as retaliation for the country's payback in the election.

Thirty-five Russian diplomats were ordered out of the country and two Russian compounds were to close as a result.

Seven days before his swearing-in ceremony, President Trump said he wasn't opposed to lifting the sanctions once in charge.

'If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?' he said.