European countries proposed a radical alternative Ukraine peace plan on Sunday that omits some of the pro-Russia points made in the original US-backed document and calls for Kyiv’s sovereignty to be respected.
As discussions began in Geneva, Donald Trump said Ukraine had shown “zero gratitude” for US efforts to end the conflict. In a conciliatory response, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was personally grateful to the US president for the military assistance Washington had given, beginning with Javelin missiles, which had saved Ukrainian lives.
Trump’s hostile rhetoric came after a confusing weekend in which the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, admitted the White House plan was conceived in Moscow, only to then insist the US was its author.
Having been blind-sided by Washington’s initiative, Ukraine’s European allies published their Kyiv-friendly plan on Sunday. It says negotiations over territory should take place after a ceasefire is agreed and should start from the line of contact – the existing frontline.
It says both parties would agree how any truce would be monitored “under US supervision”. Unlike the White House text, the European alternative does not call for Kyiv to withdraw from cities it controls in eastern Donbas. Nor does it rule out Ukraine’s membership of Nato, but points out there is no consensus over its membership.
There are further eye-catching proposals. They include that Russia give the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which would split power 50-50 between Moscow and Kyiv. Ukraine’s army would be capped during peacetime at 800,000 soldiers, 200,000 more than in the US draft.
Frozen Russian assets would also be used to reconstruct Ukraine, rather than being partly given to US investors. If Moscow were to respect a “sustainable peace”, sanctions imposed since 2014 would be gradually eased and Russia would be brought back into the G8.
The document was drawn up by Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin’s envoy, together with Trump’s special representative, Steve Witkoff. Speculation based on the use of language in the plan suggests it may have been written in Russian and later translated into English.
Amid a backlash from some Republican senators, Trump rowed back from his earlier demand that Zelenskyy sign off on the deal by Thursday. Speaking in Washington, the US president said it was “not my final offer”, opening the door to significant changes.
Posted by John3262005
2 Comments
“It says both parties would agree how any truce would be monitored “under US supervision” what the fuck is this.
My prediction – a lot of back and forth, Trump will repeatedly threaten to kneecap the entire war effort, everyone will accuse him of being Putin’s puppet. Then after a week or two he’ll get distracted by the next big thing, and the status quo will resume once again until early 2026.