Ukraine Peace Talks: US Plan Evolves Beyond Trump’s Deadline
US President Donald Trump recently asked Ukraine to accept a US peace plan to end the war by this thursday, thanksgiving Day. However, like many of Mr. Trump’s deadlines,this one has been extended.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video address last night that talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva reduced the number of points in the US peace proposal from 28 to 19.
“Many correct elements have been incorporated into this framework,” he said.
Sources involved in the talks said the document was revised, though it’s unclear which points were removed.One Ukrainian negotiator told the Financial Times that the US side seemed willing to drop its proposal to limit the Ukrainian armed forces to 600,000.
US Secretary of State Marco rubio’s comments to reporters in Geneva on Sunday evening showed that the terms of the initial US peace proposal were not final, despite Mr. Trump’s hard deadline.
“This is a living,breathing document. Every day with input, it changes,” said Mr. Rubio.
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The US peace plan that leaked last week favored Russia. it required Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas and give up almost one-fifth of its territory to Russia.Ukraine would also need to limit its military to 600,000 personnel (down from almost one million) and abandon its NATO aspirations permanently.
The plan also excluded NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine. Russia could argue this prevents the deployment of troops from individual NATO countries within the Coalition of the Willing-a British and French initiative, including Ireland, designed to monitor peace after a ceasefire.
Several points in the US proposal echoed demands made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin officials.