U.S., Ukrainian and European officials meet in Geneva to discuss U.S. #peaceplan

The US-backed plan requires Ukraine, among other things, to cede territory, limit its military in the future and give up its NATO ambitions. As noted, the proposal is not far removed from what Russia was already insisting on before its military incursion into Ukraine. In response, European leaders are trying to craft a better deal for kyiv before Thursday’s deadline.

Senior officials from the United States, Ukraine and the national security advisers of France, Britain and Germany met in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss a proposed U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine. American President Donald Trump gave the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky until Thursday to approve the 28-point plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede part of its territory, accept limitations on its army and abandon its NATO membership ambitions. And while President Trump criticized Ukrainian leaders on social media for expressing no gratitude for American efforts, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyeninsists that Ukraine’s borders cannot be changed by force: “We have agreed on the main elements necessary for a just and lasting peace and the sovereignty of Ukraine. And let me highlight three of them: first, the borders cannot be changed by force. Second, as a sovereign nation, there cannot be limitations on the Ukrainian armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attack and, therefore, also undermine the European security. Third, the central role of the European Union in ensuring peace in Ukraine must be fully reflected. Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. This begins with the reconstruction of the country, its integration into our single market and our defense industrial base, and ultimately with membership in our union.

European leaders are now scrambling to present their counterproposal to President Trump’s peace plan, which they claim to do before President Trump’s deadline on Thursday.

Meanwhile, after participating in the final round table of a three-day international conference on the future of Europe in Vienna with the Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc FriedenCroatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković commented on the US peace plan: “I can say that what we heard roughly corresponds to our initial analysis of the document, and this is the exceptionally problematic aspect that three regions are being ceded, de facto allowing Russia to exit this aggression with Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk as new Russian territories. I think this segment will be the most demanding for Ukraine in the coming days, as the plan is modified or adapted. Because, it is definitely in contradiction with the Ukrainian Constitution, and I would say, directly violates the principle of territoriality integrity, which each of us occupying this position would have in mind.

Source: THS