Moscow (AFP) – Russia has seen the latest copy of a draft US plan to end the Ukraine war and views some of it positively, but wants a discussion about the other parts, the Kremlin said Wednesday. In comments to a Russian state TV reporter, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the new draft required “truly serious analysis” and that Russia had not yet discussed it with anyone. The plan has not yet been published.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it was a “fine-tuned” version of an earlier 28-point plan that Kyiv and Europe had rejected, and that he was sending officials to meet with both sides in the hopes of finalising it. Ushakov said of the plan on Wednesday: “Some aspects can be viewed positively, but many require special discussions among experts.” The original plan, widely criticised in Europe as heeding Moscow’s demands, would have seen Ukraine withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the US de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea, and Lugansk regions as Russian.
Ukraine said later it had reached an “understanding” with the US and that the two sides had pared back some of the points Kyiv disagreed with following talks in Geneva. It is not clear which points were removed and which remain, and deep differences remain in Russia and Ukraine’s negotiating positions. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale military assault on Ukraine in February 2022 — calling it a “special military operation.” Kyiv and its European allies say the war, the largest and deadliest on European soil since World War II, is an unprovoked and illegal land grab that has resulted in a tidal wave of violence and destruction. Tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel have been killed since the war began, while millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes.
– Key sticking points –
US special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week in a bid to finalise the US administration’s plan, while US army secretary Dan Driscoll will meet the Ukrainian side, Trump said. Ushakov, a senior Russian diplomat and aide to Putin, said Wednesday that Russia needed “serious discussions” on the document. “The peace plan hasn’t been discussed in detail with anyone yet,” he told a state TV reporter.
US officials were upbeat Tuesday about the drive to end the war, even as they acknowledged key sticking points remained over the plan. But Ukraine’s European allies, which regarded the original 28-point plan as a Kremlin wish list, have cautioned against conceding too much to Moscow. They drafted their own counter-proposal to the original plan, which Russia immediately smacked down. EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that days of negotiations to refine the US plan had begun to lay the groundwork for a possible settlement. But she warned Russia showed no sign of really wanting to stop the fighting.
“I want to be clear from the very outset: Europe will stand with Ukraine and support Ukraine every step of the way,” she told EU lawmakers.
As diplomatic efforts to end the war rumbled on, Ukraine reported another night of air attacks. A Russian drone attack on the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia overnight left more than a dozen wounded and damaged tens of homes, governor Ivan Fedorov said.
© 2024 AFP
