“I think the Russians really want territorial control of Donetsk. The Ukrainians, understandably, see this as a serious security issue, but privately they admit that eventually they will probably lose Donetsk, although it could be 12 months from now, it could be longer,” he said.
The vice president considers the Russian demand to give up unconquered territories “a significant obstacle in the negotiations.”
“So this territorial concession is a significant obstacle in the negotiations – this terrible territorial concession,” he said.
At the same time, Vance considers the last round of indirect negotiations on the “peace plan” in Florida (USA) on December 21 with the participation of Kyiv, Washington, Moscow, as well as representatives of Europe, “breakthrough”.
“The breakthrough that I feel we've made is that all the issues are really being brought into the open for discussion. [Изначально] there was some game of cover-up, of hiding behind false questions without actually showing their cards… And what we have seen from the Ukrainians and Russians over the last couple of weeks is a real understanding of what is unacceptable and what is completely negotiable,” the American vice president added.
Context
The Ukrainian and US delegations have already held a number of rounds of negotiations on a “peace plan” for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war. In parallel, the American side is discussing the same issue with the Russian Federation.
That one of the options for the “peace plan” for Ukraine involves exchange of territories from the Russian Federation, wrote The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius on December 10. In particular, they are discussing the so-called Korean script – creation of a demilitarized zone along the entire ceasefire line. Beyond this zone, a deeper territory will be defined where the placement of heavy weapons will be prohibited. WP claims that Moscow demands that the unoccupied part of the Donetsk region be given to it. American negotiators note that Ukraine will lose it within six months anyway and that a concession will avoid human losses.
