USA wants to reach an agreement on a settlement in Ukraine by July 4 – media
The United States wants to reach an agreement regarding a settlement in Ukraine by July 4, Bloomberg reports, citing European officials and NATO representatives.
"The US is pushing for a deal before Trump hosts the 250th anniversary celebrations of American independence on July 4. But, according to senior European and NATO officials, there are no signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to reach an agreement that does not satisfy his core demands," Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
According to them, the Washington administration wants to conclude the deal before the United States holds festivities for the country’s 250th anniversary of independence.
The publication notes that three rounds of trilateral negotiations this year in Abu Dhabi and Geneva have failed to achieve any results. Ukraine’s European allies have been largely sidelined from the talks; Moscow and Washington are effectively competing to see who will be the first to make concessions. This would mean either Russia yielding on some of its red lines, which include full control over territories in eastern Donbas, or the US abandoning Ukraine.
Ukraine, in turn, rejects Russia’s demands to withdraw troops from fortified areas of eastern Donetsk and has proposed a ceasefire along existing front lines. The US proposes creating a free economic zone in this area along with security guarantees for Ukraine against any future attack by Russia. There is no final framework regarding the fate of the nuclear power plant yet, although the US has stated that energy distribution will be a critical part of any agreement. While the US has proposed a three-way split, Kyiv rejects any split with Russia, although it has stated that the Americans would be free to divide their share with Moscow.
One concern among Kyiv’s allies is that Putin may agree to a ceasefire that would allow Trump to claim success in ending the war, while Russia continues a campaign of sabotage, hybrid warfare, or election interference aimed at destabilizing Ukraine, according to European diplomats familiar with the matter who asked not to be named as the issue is not public.
