The head of diplomacy of the United States, Marco Rubioarrived on Sunday in Geneva, where Ukrainian, American and European officials are meeting to discuss Donald Trump’s plan for Ukraine, which makes kyiv fear a forced capitulation.
The US government now presents the 28 point plan as “a framework for negotiations”, which aims to end the conflict caused by the Russian invasion of 2022.
Welcomed by the Russian leader, Vladimir Putinthe plan takes up demands from Moscow, such as that Ukraine give up territory, agree to reduce the size of its army and desist from joining NATO.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky judged on Sunday “positive that diplomacy has been revived and that dialogue can be constructive.”
The plan, which in principle offers Western security guarantees to Ukraine to prevent a new Russian attack, caused great turmoil among Ukraine’s European allies.
The foreign ministers have multiplied contacts in the last hours and demanded new negotiations with European and kyiv participation, despite the impatience initially shown by the president of the United States.
Trump initially gave Zelensky until November 27 to respond to his proposal.
But on Saturday he answered “no” to a question about whether his plan was a “last offer” to resolve the conflict.
“Solid frame”
The proposal “is offered as a solid framework for the ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and current input from Ukraine,” Marco Rubio said.
In a joint statement, the leaders of key European countries, as well as Japan and Canadasaid that Washington’s plan “is a foundation that will require additional work” and show their fear that it will leave Ukraine “vulnerable to future attacks.”
For his part, the head of the German government Friedrich Merz was “sceptical.”
“I’m still not convinced that the solutions desired by President Trump will be achieved over the next few days,” he said at the G20 summit that ended Sunday in Johannesburg.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced a meeting on Tuesday with Ukraine’s allied countries.
And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the European Union to play a “central” role in any peace plan on Ukraine.
Security guarantees
Putin considers that the text can serve “as a basis for a definitive peaceful solution” to the conflict that began in 2022 and expressed his willingness to “discuss all the details in depth.”
Zelensky acknowledged on Friday that his country is going through “one of the most difficult moments in (its) history.” “You could face a very difficult choice: the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” the United States said.
However, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News that the plan is “a work in progress.”
According to the American text, the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luganskas well as Crimeaannexed by Moscow in 2014, would be “de facto recognized as Russian”, including by the United States.
This would imply that Moscow would gain Ukrainian territories that are still under kyiv’s control today.
Russia would also see the end of its isolation from the West with its reintegration into the G8 and the gradual lifting of sanctions, as well as its desire to keep kyiv away from NATO forever, something that should be inscribed in the Ukrainian Constitution.
Ukraine would have to limit its army to 600,000 soldiers and settle for a protection of European fighter jets based in Poland, while NATO would commit not to station troops on Ukrainian territory.
