LONDON (AP) 鈥� The has seen almost four years of failed peace plans, blueprints and high-level summits. A new U.S. push to end the fighting has set off the latest flurry of diplomacy, with American, European, Russian and Ukrainian officials all trying to of Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Tilted heavily toward Russia’s aims, the U.S.-backed proposal presented to Ukraine last week set off alarm bells in Kyiv and other European capitals. Ukraine and its allies offered a set of counterproposals that revamped the . Ukrainian and European leaders expressed optimism about the talks’ momentum, but awaited responses from Washington and Moscow that are crucial.
鈥淚 think we’re getting very close to a deal,鈥� said Tuesday. He said the proposals had been 鈥渇ine-tuned鈥� and announced he was sending his envoy to meet next week.
A contentious peace plan
Based on talks between Washington and Moscow, the presented to Ukraine calls on it to cede its entire to Russia, which invaded its smaller neighbor in February 2022. The plan would put a 600,000-person limit on Ukraine鈥檚 military and bar Ukraine or any other new member from NATO. It also would rule out NATO troops in Ukraine and does not commit the U.S. or European nations to Ukraine’s defense if Russia attacks again.
Russia would commit to no more attacks on Ukraine, facing sanctions if it violates that pledge.
Ukraine and its European allies said the plan rewards Russian aggression and scrambled to offer counterproposals aimed at shifting the balance toward Ukraine, such as lifting the cap on Ukraine’s military power, leaving open the question of future NATO membership and postponing discussions of territorial concessions until after a ceasefire.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials met Sunday in Geneva, with both sides calling the talks constructive and promising to produce a revised peace plan.
met Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, but Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said the new peace plan was not discussed in detail. He said that while Moscow had seen a copy of the proposals, it had yet to receive the document through official channels.
The fragility of the process was underscored by in which Witkoff appeared to coach Ushakov on how to win Trump’s support for a peace plan. Moscow denied leaking the conversation, details of which were first published by Bloomberg 海角社区app.
The White House did not dispute the veracity of the transcript, and Trump described Witkoff鈥檚 reported approach to the Russians in the call as 鈥渟tandard鈥� negotiating procedure.
Ukrainian officials said they hoped Zelenskyy would travel to the U.S within days to meet Trump, while the U.S. president said he could eventually meet both Zelenskyy and Putin, but not until more progress has been made.
Bolstering Ukraine鈥檚 security
Amid worries in Europe that it is being sidelined in peace plans, allies of Ukraine who have pledged to underwrite and guarantee any ceasefire 鈥� the 35-nation 鈥� held a video conference Tuesday attended by Zelenskyy and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
About 20 countries in the coalition have agreed to join a post-ceasefire 鈥渞eassurance force鈥� for Ukraine. The plan foresees European allies training Ukrainian troops and providing sea and air support, but relies on U.S. military muscle as a security guarantee.
Trump has not explicitly committed to providing that backup, but the leaders of Britain, France and Germany said after Tuesday’s meeting that attendees had agreed with Rubio 鈥渢o accelerate joint work with the United States to take forward the planning on security guarantees.鈥�
War-weariness could aid peace efforts
The latest push for peace comes as Ukrainians are exhausted after almost four years of war, with the country’s cities and pummeled by Russian missiles and drones.
Both Russia and Ukraine have suffered hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded, and along the front line Russia is making slow gains and at huge human cost.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said sanctions on Russian oil and gas were starting to bite, putting Moscow under pressure.
鈥淭hey want us to believe they can continue forever. This is not true,鈥� she said.
There are also domestic troubles for Zelenskyy, dealing with a in his administration 鈥� and for Trump, facing rifts .
Jim Townsend, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the Russians likely perceive Trump as impatient and unfocused, and will deploy delay tactics to avoid concessions.
鈥淭his could just be a real mess. The Russians don鈥檛 feel any pressure. They think they鈥檙e going to win if they hold out long enough. The pressure鈥檚 all on Zelenskyy,鈥� he said.
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McNeil reported from Brussels.
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