The territorial issue is key, which "hinders" the conclusion of a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, Politico reports, writes UNN.
Details
"The one remaining item … is the territorial claim on Donetsk. There is active work going to try to see if both sides’ views on this can be reconciled," Rubio told a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting.
"It’s still a bridge we haven’t crossed. It’s still a gap, but at least we’ve been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one, and it will probably be a very difficult one," Rubio noted.
Addition
As the publication points out, the annexation of Donbas was one of the maximalist military goals of the Kremlin head Vladimir Putin, who in December stated that Russia would seize it "one way or another" if Ukraine did not voluntarily give it up.
The concession of Donbas was also one of the points of the 28-point plan circulated by the team of US President Donald Trump, which drew criticism from Ukrainian and European officials as being heavily skewed in Russia's favor. The updated proposal softened some of the more pro-Russian aspects of the initial plan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will not give up Donbas as part of any ceasefire agreement, as this would give Putin a springboard for a future invasion.