“In the context of peace negotiations, Jan Lipavsky emphasizes that everything that concerns Europe should be decided with Europe”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
When asked by Radio Svoboda if he is still concerned, as he was two weeks ago, that the peace agreement being discussed “is again the Munich scenario” (which is exactly what Jan Lipavsky said on November 20), the Czech minister said that critical points for Europe had been removed.
“At this stage, my feeling is that from the various versions of the plan and from the negotiations as such, the parts related to NATO or Europe have been removed or are not currently being discussed. I think that Europe sent a rather strong signal to the United States that this issue should be resolved with Europe, and I, of course, welcome it,” said Lipavsky.
At the same time, according to him, Europe does not know what is part of the negotiations.
“You know, we don’t see exactly what is happening inside the negotiations or what is part of the negotiations between the US and Ukraine or between the US and Russia. So, let’s say, my position is vigilance in the sense that we have to insist: everything that concerns Europe must be decided with Europe,” said the Czech minister.
Yan Lipavsky noted that the details of the negotiations are not disclosed to the European allies. “We don’t see what exactly is happening inside the negotiations or what is part of the negotiations between the US and Ukraine or between the US and Russia. So, let’s say, my position is vigilance in the sense that we must insist: everything that concerns Europe must be decided with Europe,” Lipavsky said.
One of the NATO diplomats, with whom RFE/RL spoke informally, confirmed that not all details of the peace talks are known to the European allies.
“It is quite obvious that these negotiations have entered a very sensitive area,” said the diplomat, who was not authorized to give official comments to the media.
According to him, it is “quite legitimate” that there are certain issues that can be resolved “only between Ukraine and the USA at a high level” and that “they should keep certain parts of the negotiations confidential.”
On the evening of December 2, negotiations between American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner with Russian leader Vladimir Putin lasted for several hours. After her, Putin’s assistant Yuriy Ushakov said that “so far no compromise option (peaceful settlement) has been found, but some American developments look more or less acceptable.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on December 2 that he was waiting for signals from the American side after the meeting in Moscow.
Before the trip to Moscow, Witkoff, as part of the American delegation, participated in a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation in Florida on November 30. Various aspects of the US peace plan were discussed. Both sides called the meeting constructive and announced progress, but no specific agreements were announced.