Ukraine, pressed by the US to accept Trump's peace plan, which includes the recognition of Crimea by Russia. Details about Americans' proposal
The peace plan proposed by the US on Thursday, during discussions in Paris, includes a possible recognition by the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the exclusion of Kiev since accession to NATO. And Ukraine is pressed to accept it, writes The Wall Street Journal.
The ideas of the Trump administration about the way to put an end to the Ukraine war were presented on Thursday, in the context of the visit of the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, discussions attended by officials from the UK, Germany, France and Ukraine.
The US proposal provides for a potential reduction in the sanctions imposed on Moscow and the leaving of Ukrainian territories under the control of Russian forces. And, according to the WSJ, Kiev is pressed to respond to Americans at the end of this week, when he is expected at a meeting of American, Ukrainian and European officials in London.
Then, if there is a consensus between the positions of the Americans, Europeans and Ukrainians, the proposal could be submitted to Moscow.
Kiev, pressed to accept
In order to exert pressure on Ukraine and Russia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the administration could interrupt its negotiation efforts if progress will not be made in the next few weeks in terms of essential issues.
“We must establish in the following days whether (peace) is feasible or not, and if it is not possible, we have to go further,” because “the United States has other priorities,” Rubio said at Le Bourget Airport in Paris before climbing the plane.
The US diplomatic approach would freeze the war along the current front lines, actually leaving the Ukrainian territory occupied under the control of Russia. But accepting some of the ideas of the Trump administration could prove difficult for Kiev, given that Ukraine does not want to admit Russia's claims on its territories.
Zelenski has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will not recognize, regardless of what a possible peace agreement will look like, the Ukrainian regions of Russia.
Although Rubio has put pressure on a high official of the State Department suggested on Sunday that Ukraine must evaluate ideas, but it is not obliged to accept them.
Following the discussions in London, in which the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the special US Emissary to Russia, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's envoy, Keith Kellogg, Witkoff could take another trip to Russia, notes WSJ.
Steve Witkoff, a real estate director close to Trump, has met with Russian President Putin three times and reported that he had progress in his discussions with the Kremlin leader. Other American officials advised Trump to be more skeptical about Putin's intentions.
What would the US recognition of Russia's control over Crimea mean
The idea that the US will consider the recognition of Crimea annexation by Russia has been previously reported by Bloomberg.
A US decision to recognize the conquest of the Crimean peninsula by Russia in 2014 would cancel an American policy for over a decade, both from Democratic and Republican administrations.
In 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served during the first Trump administration, denounced the annexation of Crimea by Russia as a threat to “a fundamental international principle shared by the democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another by force.”
The US Congress has adopted a law that opposes the US recognition of Crimea annexation.
The ideas presented by the US in Paris also include the exclusion of Ukraine from NATO. “NATO is not on the table,” Kellogg said in a Fox News on Saturday.
Another idea of the US, according to Western officials, provides for the designation of the territory around the nuclear reactor in Zaporojie as a neutral territory that could be under American control.
In a conversation with Zelenski in March, Trump has evoked the possibility of the US to purchase Ukrainian power plants, including nuclear installations, calling it “the best protection for this infrastructure.”
The power plant in Zaporojie, the largest in Europe, would probably supply both the Ukrainian territory and the regions that Moscow has conquered from its 2022 invasion and which remain under its control.
Russia interested in relaunching economic relations with the US
According to Western officials, the ideas presented by the Trump administration do not meet certain Russian requirements. They would not admit that Russia has the legal right to control four regions of the east of Ukraine, which he claims to annexed, although they do not ask the Russian army to leave these areas.
Also, according to Western officials, the US do not propose a ceiling for Ukrainian forces and do not exclude Western military support for Kiev or to conduct European troops in Ukraine, a key divergence with Moscow.
“Every sovereign nation on Earth has the right to defend itself,” Rubio said on Friday. “Ukraine will have the right to defend itself and conclude any agreements,” he said.
While the Trump administration suspended in early March military aid and transfers for Ukraine, did not impose economic sanctions and did not take concrete measures to press Putin.
Ukraine said she was willing to accept a 30 -day comprehensive fire if the Kremlin follows the example. A few days ago, Putin said a brief ceasefire for Easter holidays, but Ukrainian officials said Moscow continued to make attacks during the religious holiday.
There is still no resolution on the types of security guarantees that Ukraine could receive if it accepts a peace agreement.
To date, the Trump administration has not been declared to provide military support to European nations that send troops to Ukraine as part of a “reinsurance force”, to discourage a future Russian aggression. While the Kremlin has signaled its interest in raising American sanctions and relaunching economic relations with the US during discussions in Moscow and Saudi Arabia led by Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev.
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