“According to Axios, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing increased pressure from the United States, which demands that he agree to significant territorial and other concessions as part of US President Donald Trump’s “peace plan”.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: Axios citing sources
Details: The paper notes that after weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations, Ukrainians still believe that some aspects of the current US plan benefit Moscow, and that the US is putting much more pressure on Zelensky than on Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.
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Axios adds that a US official denied this, stressing that the US had also pressured Putin to soften its demands.
A Ukrainian official told Axios that Kiev believes the US offer has deteriorated since Trump negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a five-hour meeting with Putin last week in the Kremlin.
The official added that Witkoff and Kushner appeared to want a clear yes from Zelensky when they discussed the plan with him during a two-hour phone call on Saturday.
“We had the impression that the US tried in various ways to convince us of Russia’s desire to seize the entire Donbas, and that the Americans wanted Zelensky to agree to all this during a telephone conversation,” said a Ukrainian official.
Zelensky said during a phone call with Witkoff and Kushner that he had received the U.S. offer just an hour ago and had not yet read it, U.S. and Ukrainian officials said.
A U.S. official said it was surprising because the U.S. had forwarded the updated proposal a day earlier. The Ukrainian official noted that although some documents were provided a day earlier, others were received shortly before the call.
A Ukrainian official said the U.S. proposal contained tougher terms than previous versions on issues such as territory and control of the nuclear power plant, and did not answer key questions about security guarantees.
However, according to a Ukrainian official, the American side seemed to expect that Zelensky would simply agree to the terms over the phone.
The American official, writes Axios, insisted that the current project was significantly influenced by Ukrainian proposals, and that Kushner and Witkoff pressured Putin to agree to some of Ukraine’s demands.
Literally from the publication: “But this situation reflects the latent mistrust between the Zelenskyi and Trump administrations, despite the many hours their teams have spent negotiating.”
Details: The publication reminds that on Monday, Zelensky met in London with the leaders of Great Britain, France and Germany to discuss a common position on Trump’s plan.
Axios writes that US and Ukrainian officials say the Trump administration viewed Zelenskyi’s Downing Street meeting as a futile attempt to buy time in negotiations over Trump’s “peace plan.”
The publication notes that Ukrainian officials have said that, in their opinion, the US is trying to distance Zelensky from European leaders in order to be able to put more effective pressure on him.
“Zelensky cannot make such radical decisions without consulting his key allies in Europe,” said a Ukrainian official.
The official noted that although the Trump administration is pressuring Zelensky to act quickly, the Europeans are advising him to be cautious and patient.
This development, according to Axios, has angered some White House officials, who see the Europeans as the “main obstacle” to a deal.
The publication adds that Ukrainians and Europeans are also discussing security guarantees. A European official said it remains unclear what role the U.S. is willing to play in providing guarantees and what it expects from European allies.
Two Ukrainian officials said the latest US proposal for security guarantees is based on a “broader framework” than the initial proposal, but still does not include a Senate-ratified treaty.
What preceded: Previously, the AFP publication, citing a Ukrainian official, wrote about significant pressure from the US, which is pushing Ukraine to adopt an agreement that, according to their plan, should end the war unleashed by the Russian Federation.
Zelenskyi said that Ukraine is not considering the possibility of transferring any of its territories, because neither national legislation, nor international law, nor moral principles allow this.
We will remind:
- President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in an interview on Monday that the participants in the negotiations regarding Trump’s “peace plan” still cannot reach an agreement on the territorial issue, and the fate of the Donetsk region is being discussed in particular.
- Citing European officials, Politico writes that during the discussion of a possible agreement to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, the United States continues to promote the idea that Ukraine should agree to leave the territory of Donetsk without a fight.
- Before that, US President Donald Trump said that Russia had allegedly agreed to a “peace plan”, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had not even read it.
- The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umyerov, said that he received information from the US about their meeting with the Russians in Moscow and plans to tell about all aspects of the dialogue and hand over the documents to Volodymyr Zelenskyi.