Ukraine, in the updated version of the peace plan, is not ready to give up Donbas and retains the right to join NATO. This is reported by NYT with reference to Western officials familiar with the document, reports UNN.
Details
The publication notes that three weeks ago, US President Donald Trump caused shock across Europe by presenting a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine that strongly echoed Russian arguments.
However, Ukrainian leaders responded with a counter-proposal that demands legal guarantees of protection against future Russian aggression and ensures that Ukraine retains the land it currently controls, according to descriptions of the plan by European leaders and diplomats, as well as reports from officials who have seen it or been briefed on it.
According to five current and former Western officials familiar with the plan, the proposal excluded parts of Trump's original plan that crossed Ukrainian red lines. All spoke on condition of anonymity to speak more freely about delicate diplomacy.
In particular, according to two senior European officials and a former American official, it stated that Ukraine should retain control over areas in eastern Ukraine that, according to Trump's plan, it was supposed to cede.
According to a senior European official and a former American official, it also excluded the American demand that Ukraine renounce its right to join NATO in order to preserve, at least, the principle of NATO's open-door policy. Both changes are likely to be unacceptable to Russia, which wants to control more Ukrainian territory and prevent Ukraine from ever joining NATO, and it is also assumed that Mr. Trump would veto Ukraine's membership if it applied.
Add
The publication notes that the proposals, sent to Washington for consideration on Wednesday evening, were the result of a flurry of intense diplomacy by Mr. Zelensky in recent days, including meetings in London, Brussels, and Rome, as well as at least one conversation between European leaders and Mr. Trump.
Negotiations are expected to continue at a meeting of European leaders in Berlin on Monday.