INTERVIEW What will Ukraine do in the face of Trump's plan, “perceived by public opinion as a total capitulation”. “The project will be a starting point for negotiations,” explains an expert from Kiev

The US plan to end the war violates too many of Kiev's red lines, Oleksandr Kraiev, an international relations expert from Kiev, says in an interview with the HotNews audience. What will Ukraine do? “We will combine the views of Ukraine and Europe with those of the American plan, and then this project will be a starting point for negotiations,” he said.

Ukraine has no intention at this time to accept a set of proposals that it has already rejected and that violate its red lines.

However, Kiev is willing to negotiate and wants the first step towards these negotiations to be a ceasefire, Oleksandr Kraiev, international relations expert and researcher, director of the North American Program of the Ukrainian Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”, tells HotNews.

The analyst explained these things on Friday, after the US presented Kiev with a 28-point plan that demands painful concessions from Ukraine, which include ceding strategic territory in the east of the country, reducing the army and giving up NATO membership, among others.

From the analyst's point of view, “there are no specific and concrete indications that this plan will be considered a solid basis for definitive negotiations”.

“There are too many positions that are red lines for Ukraine. And we must understand that no Ukrainian politician will ever accept such demands and no Ukrainian leader, be it military, political or social, will ever agree to such a thing,” Kraiev said.

He noted at the same time that the new US plan “only reiterates the position that Russia has already recognized in the Istanbul meetings in 2022”.

“We were in a much worse position in 2022 when we met with the Russian representatives in Istanbul. So, basically, no, there is no specific necessity or specific circumstances in which Ukraine can accept the entire peace plan currently proposed,” the expert said.

“A Working Document”

So what is the plan for Kyiv? Volodymyr Zelensky held a restrained position, thanked the US for its involvement and communicated to the population the importance of the moment and the choice.

For Kraiev, the document presented by the US, and leaked to the press, is a working document, which can and must undergo changes.

“Judging by the official position of the Presidency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and other government institutions, we are working on this. So, basically, we have seen the proposal, we are very grateful to the American side for its inspiration and initiative, but we have to work on it. For us, it is just a working document,” he said.

“So, basically, the official position of Ukraine is that we cannot accept this document as a whole. We cannot accept most of the points presented in the document, but we are willing to discuss them,” the analyst added.

“We are willing to negotiate, but we are not willing to accept defeat”

Kraiev declared himself confident that Ukraine can negotiate on the subject of the proposals formulated by the USA.

“We don't see a level of insistence and influence from the United States to bring Ukraine to the negotiating table at any cost. Previously, they suspended arms supplies to Ukraine. They suspended intelligence support for Ukraine,” he said.

“Currently, we see that the Americans are more inclined to the idea of ​​communication. We see that the Americans are more willing to talk, more willing to do something, but without specific concessions from Ukraine from day one,” the analyst added.

The US has not really suspended arms deliveries to Kyiv. But Reuters still reported that Washington had warned Ukraine it could do so if Kiev was unwilling to negotiate.

It is unclear how willing the White House is to follow through on this threat.

“So the basic idea is that we are willing to negotiate, but we are not willing to accept defeat. We are not willing to capitulate to Russia. Because this plan is perceived by Ukrainian public opinion as total capitulation,” Kraiev said.

What's next for Ukraine?

In the following days, the expert says, Kiev is going to discuss the proposals made by the US, to which it will try to attach the position of Ukraine and Europe.

“At the moment, apart from the American point of view, we are also trying to implement a common European-Ukrainian point of view. Zelenskiy talked with (Keir) Starmer, (Emmanuel) Macron, (Friedrich) Merz, and I think that will be the further development,” the analyst said.

“We will combine the points of the Ukrainian-European plan with those of the American plan, and then this plan will be a starting point for negotiations,” he added.

I demand a ceasefire

An important point of view of Ukraine and Europe is that a ceasefire is crucial.

“We cannot talk about substantive negotiations before Russia accepts that a ceasefire agreement is necessary as a first step in any negotiations,” Kraiev said.

“Currently, Russia is still playing on the idea that the ceasefire is the final point of the negotiations, that after Ukraine cedes territory, after Ukraine accepts a limitation of weapons, of armed forces, after Ukraine withdraws its commitment to join NATO and everything else, then Russia will implement the ceasefire,” the analyst observed.

“From the point of view of classical diplomacy, it is absurd, because any negotiation begins with a ceasefire. You cannot negotiate while missiles and bullets are still flying. So, without an agreement on a ceasefire, without a common delimitation of this position, we cannot talk about any kind of serious peace initiatives, summits or diplomatic contacts,” added Kraiev.