Khaberni - The American site Axios revealed the details of the American president's plan to stop the Russian-Ukrainian war with a comprehensive peace agreement, consisting of 28 points, which closely resembles the demands made by Moscow after its military operation in Ukraine early in 2022. It is said that Russian and American officials, with support from Trump, drafted the agreement without consulting Kyiv. A European diplomat stated they were unaware of the plan until they learned about it through the news.
Kyiv to concede Crimea and Donbass
The British newspaper The Guardian mentioned that the agreement stipulates Kyiv's concession of the Crimea Peninsula and the Donbass region, freezing the front lines in Kherson and Zaporizhia along the current line of contact, and Ukraine agreeing to limit its army to 600,000 soldiers, thus reducing hundreds of thousands.
According to the plan, European fighter jets will be deployed in Poland to protect Ukraine, but no NATO forces will be deployed in Ukraine and Kyiv will agree never to join the military alliance. No foreign forces will be allowed on Ukrainian territory, a condition that excludes the formation of a peacekeeping force led by the United Kingdom and France after the agreement.
However, the United States will provide unspecified security guarantees, according to Axios. In addition, $100 billion in frozen Russian assets will be allocated for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and there will be a pathway for reintegrating Russia into the global economy, including future lifting of sanctions, according to the Associated Press.
Ukrainian officials have said this document effectively represents the end of their existence as an independent state and comes nearly four years after the Russian forces' attempt to take Kyiv failed, amidst the faltering efforts of the Trump administration to end the conflict.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy held talks with a high-level American military delegation led by the Army Secretary and Trump's envoy Dan Driscoll, who, according to American sources, arrived in Kyiv carrying important messages from the White House and is likely to travel to Moscow next weekend to discuss the plan with the Kremlin.
Trump administration strives for peace
American diplomats said that Donald Trump is striving to achieve peace with an incredible amount of momentum, and added that his administration is seeking a firm timetable with the Ukrainians to reach an agreement, and wants to achieve it in the shortest possible time. The White House described the plan as good for both parties, dismissing concerns that it reflects many of Moscow's demands.
After a bilateral meeting that lasted an hour between Dreschel and Zelenskyy, the acting US ambassador in Kyiv, Julie Davis, stated: "Today we witnessed a notable pace of diplomatic activity. We will continue these efforts today and tomorrow."
Officials in Kyiv were not pleased with this proposal and said that the proposal drafted by Kirill Dmitriev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, and special envoy for Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, is a provocation aimed at causing division and distracting Ukraine's allies.
Last week, Trump appointed Driscoll as his new special representative, and a U.S. official stated that his mission in Kyiv included explaining the latest peace plan from the White House, in addition to military meetings and discussions regarding innovation in battlefields. Reports indicated that Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, is planning to leave, saying he will depart in January after a year in the role. Kellogg is generally sympathetic to Ukraine and was therefore excluded from the direct American-Russian talks.
The renewed efforts of the White House to force Ukraine to make significant concessions are coming at a difficult time for Zelenskyy, who has been embroiled in the biggest political scandal since he assumed the presidency in 2019.
