USA-Russia peace plan envisages loss of Ukrainian territory, sovereignty - media
The plan to end the war proposed to Ukraine by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff involves the loss of territory and restrictions on sovereignty, several media outlets, including the Financial Times (FT) and Axios, reported on Wednesday.
It is noteworthy that the FT writes about the developers of the plan as a "group of Russian and American officials." While Axios in the publication calls the proposal nothing more than "the Trump plan." Both publications refer to unnamed high-ranking sources in the United States, Ukraine and Russia.
Trump’s new plan to end the war in Ukraine involves giving Russia parts of eastern Ukraine that it does not currently control in exchange for US security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe from future Russian aggression, Axios reports, citing an unnamed American official "directly aware of the situation."
According to a U.S. official, the White House believes that Ukraine is likely to lose the territory anyway if the war continues, and "therefore it is in Ukraine’s interest to reach an agreement now, the source told Axios.
"The two most difficult issues in the Ukraine talks so far have been who will control which territory after the war ends, and how Ukraine can be sure that Russia will not simply resume the war later," Axios notes.
"The 28-point Trump plan calls for Russia to gain full de facto control of Luhansk and Donetsk (together referred to as the Donbas), despite Ukraine still controlling around 14.5% of the territory there, per the latest analysis by the Institute for the Study of War. Despite being under Russian control, the areas in Donbas from which Ukraine would withdraw would be considered a demilitarized zone, with Russia not able to position troops there.In two other war-torn regions, Kherson and Zaporizhia, the current lines of control would mostly be frozen in place, with Russia returning some land, subject to negotiations.," Axios said.
"According to Trump’s plan, the United States and other countries recognize Crimea and Donbas as legitimate Russian territory, but Ukraine is not asked to do so," the article said.
In addition, the publication cites an unnamed Ukrainian official, according to whom "the plan also includes restrictions on the number of Ukrainian troops and their long-range weapons in exchange for U.S. security guarantees." The same official "confirmed that the U.S. plan includes territorial concessions by Ukraine in Donbas."
Axios reports, citing two anonymous sources "with direct knowledge," that Qatar and Turkey are involved in developing Trump’s new plan and supporting U.S. mediation efforts.
"Qatar’s and Turkey’s mediation helped stop "...the war in Gaza and could help end the war in Ukraine," Axios quoted one of these sources as saying.
The publication also reported the participation of a "senior Qatari official" in negotiations between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov.
"One source with direct knowledge said that Umerov was authorized by Zelenskyy to negotiate with Witkoff, and many of his comments were included in the text of the 28-point plan. The source claims that many agreements were reached during the talks with Umerov," Axios writes.
At the same time, the publication quotes a "Ukrainian official" who "confirmed that Zelenskyy sent Umerov to review the US plan, but said that it was an oral briefing, and Umerov did not receive a written proposal from Witkoff."
"The Ukrainian official denied that Zelensky’s adviser accepted the terms of the plan during the meeting and claimed Ukraine objects to many of the points. Prior to meeting Umerov, Witkoff held extensive discussions on the plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev," the article said.
Axios also reports that the publication characterized as a "friction point," namely that "as part of Turkey’s support for Trump’s peace initiative, Witkoff planned to visit Ankara on Wednesday and hold a trilateral meeting with Zelensky and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan," an unnamed US official told the publication.
"The meeting was postponed when it became clear that Zelenskyy was moving away from the agreements reached with Umerov and was not interested in discussing Trump’s plan. Instead, Zelensky went to Ankara with a different plan developed with European partners that Russia would never accept," Axios quoted the US official as saying.
A Ukrainian official, according to the publication, said that "the meeting was postponed because Zelenskyy asked to discuss the plan in a broader format, including European countries."