A peace agreement in Ukraine is “very close”, announces Trump's emissary / Moscow says, however, that it wants “radical changes” to the US plan
The two main unresolved issues are related to territory – primarily the future of Donbas – and the future of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, said emissary Keith Kellogg, who is preparing to leave the Trump administration, writes Reuters.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine has said a deal to end the war in Ukraine is “very close” and that it now depends on solving two main issues: the future of Ukraine's Donbas region and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
Keith Kellogg, who is due to step down in January, told the Reagan Forum on National Defense that efforts to resolve the conflict are in the “last 10 yards,” which he said are always the most difficult.
The two main unresolved issues, Kellogg said, are related to territory — primarily the future of Donbas — and the future of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which is under Russian control.
“If we solve those two problems, I think the rest of the things will work out pretty well,” Kellogg said Saturday.
“We are very, very close,” he assured.
A signal from Moscow tempered optimism about the outcome of the negotiations
Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted by Russian media on Sunday as saying that the United States would have to “make serious, I would say radical, changes in its documents” regarding Ukraine.
He did not specify what changes Moscow wants Washington to make.
Two million dead and wounded
Kellogg, a reserve lieutenant general who served in Vietnam, Panama and Iraq, said the scale of casualties from the war in Ukraine was “appalling” and unprecedented for a regional war.
Kellogg stated that Russia and Ukraine together have suffered more than two million casualties, including dead and wounded, since the start of the war. Neither Russia nor Ukraine divulge credible estimates of their losses.
Russia currently controls 19.2% of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, the entire territory of Luhansk region, over 80% of Donetsk, about 75% of Kherson and Zaporizhia, and portions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
The US plan
Last month a US peace plan with 28 preliminary proposals appeared in the press, to the dismay of Ukrainian and European officials, who said they were favorable to Russia.
These proposals were divided into four different components, according to the Kremlin. The exact contents are not known. The US negotiated in parallel with Kiev and Moscow.
Under initial US proposals, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, whose reactors are currently shut down, would be restarted under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the electricity produced would be shared equally between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that he had a long and “substantial” phone conversation with Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The two met with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin this week. The Kremlin said Friday it expects Kushner to be primarily involved in drafting a possible deal.
Territorial concessions and security guarantees
Territorial concessions and security guarantees for Ukraine were among the most sensitive topics discussed in a recent call between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US envoys, according to people familiar with the discussions, cited by Axios.
A person familiar with the conversation told Axios that the exchange of views on the territory was one of the most sensitive aspects of the discussion.
According to a second source, Moscow continues to insist that Kiev withdraw from the parts of the Donetsk region it still holds, while US negotiators are working on alternative proposals that could reduce the differences between the two sides.
Axios reported that security guarantees for Ukraine were another important point. One source said the US and Ukraine had moved closer to a common position and had made “significant progress”, but added that both governments needed to make sure they interpreted the safeguards project in the same way.
“The main difficult issues relate to territorial issues and security guarantees. We aim to ensure that the agreed solutions are realistic, fair and sustainable,” Ukraine's ambassador to Washington, Olha Stefanișina, told Axios.
