Important provisions disappeared from the US peace plan for Ukraine. Germany announces success
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Controversial US plan for Ukraine
The document contained far-reaching concessions to Russia. It assumed, among other things, that Moscow would receive most of the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army from 2022, as well as some of the areas in the Donetsk Oblast still controlled by Ukrainian forces. In return Ukraine would resign from NATO membership, which in practice would mean a permanent freezing of its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
The point regarding the reduction of the Ukrainian armed forces to 600,000 was also controversial. soldiers. According to critics, such a significant reduction in the potential of the army of a still threatened country could hamper long-term security guarantees and make Ukraine dependent on unstable political agreements. Even though the authors of the project assured of its “realistic nature”, in Ukraine the document was perceived as an attempt to force capitulation concessions to Russia.
Read also: New information after the peace negotiations in Geneva. There is a statement from the US and Ukraine
European amendments to the US peace plan
On Sunday, intensive talks took place in Geneva, attended by national security advisers from France, Germany and Great Britain, as well as representatives of Italy, the USA, Ukraine and EU institutions. According to Reuters sources European delegations agreed that many points of the American proposal were politically and strategically unacceptable. So, in response, we presented our own version of the project.
In the European proposal imposing restrictions on the size of the Ukrainian army was abandoned. However, provisions were introduced about security guarantees similar to Art. 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, although without formal membership in NATO. One of the most discussed points assumes the possibility of stationing NATO fighters – including machines from European countries – on Polish territory, which would constitute an element of a broader deterrence system.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the head of the Ukrainian president's office Andriy Yermak in Geneva
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However, the provisions regarding Ukraine's future borders turned out to be the most controversial. Wadephul, when asked about this part of the conversations, only admitted that “territorial division remains one of the most difficult and sensitive topics“. As he emphasized, Removing the fragments relating to Europe and NATO is only the first step towards developing an acceptable basis for further negotiations.
Urgent EU summit in Angola
Growing differences in positions have led to the convening of a special summit of European Union leaders, which is to be held on Monday in Angola. European Council President Antonio Costa decided to immediately meet the leaders after the media revealed details of the US project on Thursday, triggering a wave of criticism in European countries. Prime Minister Donald Tusk will also be there.
Most EU capitals believed that the American proposal was too far-reaching a concession to Russia and ignored both Ukraine's interests and the needs of the European security system. The summit in Angola is intended to help develop a common position before the US-EU-Ukraine talks enter the next phase.
European diplomats emphasize that although the United States plays a key role in shaping the conditions of future peace, it is Europe that will bear the greatest consequences of a possible agreement – political, military and economic. Therefore, as Wadephul repeats, “no decision regarding Ukraine can be made without the participation of European countries.”
