Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian and US officials will soon meet in Switzerland to discuss Washington’s plan for ending the war with Russia, Kyiv said Saturday, as it seeks to fix the draft that heeds to some of Moscow’s hardline demands. US President Donald Trump gave Ukraine less than a week to approve the 28-point plan to end the nearly four-year conflict, which would see the invaded country cede territory, cut its army, and pledge to never join NATO.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s European allies, who were not included in drafting the agreement, said the plan requires “additional work” as they scrambled at the G20 summit in South Africa to come up with a counter-offer to beef up Kyiv’s positions. “In the coming days, consultations will take place with partners regarding the steps needed to end the war,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, after he issued a decree stating Ukraine’s team for the talks, which will be led by his top aide, Andriy Yermak. “Our representatives know how to defend Ukraine’s national interests and what is necessary to prevent Russia from launching a third invasion,” Zelensky added.
Security officials from France, Britain, and Germany will also join the talks on Sunday morning in Geneva, sources at the G20 summit said. Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s security council secretary who’s also on board for the talks, earlier also indicated Switzerland as a location for the deliberations. “This is another stage of the dialogue that has been ongoing in recent days and is primarily aimed at aligning our vision for the next steps,” added Umerov, formerly a defense minister. He previously led a few rounds of negotiations with Russia in Turkey, which only yielded prisoner exchanges and bodies repatriations. Zelensky’s decree also said the negotiations will include “representatives of the Russian Federation.” There was no immediate confirmation from Russia whether it would join the talks.
The unilateral US plan to end the war in Ukraine “is a basis which will require additional work,” Western leaders gathered in South Africa for a G20 summit said Saturday. “We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack,” the leaders of key European countries as well as Canada and Japan said in a joint statement. France’s Emmanuel Macron earlier sent a sombre message to the gathering, saying “the G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle,” adding that the grouping was struggling to resolve major crises around the world, referring to the unilateral US plan for resolving the Ukraine war. Britain, Germany, and France emerged as key Ukraine backers, providing it with crucial military and financial support, especially after the US sponsorship waned after Trump’s return to office.
Zelensky said Friday in an address to the nation that Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, adding that he would propose alternatives to Trump’s proposal. “The pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” Zelensky said in his address, referring to a possible break with Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the blueprint could “lay the foundation” for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations. Better equipped and larger in numbers, the Russian army is slowly but steadily gaining ground across the lengthy front line. Ukrainians are meanwhile facing one of the toughest winters since the war began, after Moscow carried out a brutal bombing campaign against energy infrastructure. This comes as a sweeping corruption probe that unveiled graft in the energy sector was unraveling in Kyiv, sparking public outcry.
© 2024 AFP
