Next week in London, the US wants to agree on the terms of a full and comprehensive ceasefire, followed by negotiations with Moscow.
This is reported by the New York Post, citing a senior Trump administration official.
"After this [agreement on the terms of a complete ceasefire], we plan to hold [negotiations] with the Russians and say, ʼHere is your best and final offer,ʼ to understand the position of both sides. And only after that will further steps be determined," he said.
The official says Trump is ready to walk away from the talks without Moscowʼs consent, placing responsibility for the conflict on Americaʼs European allies.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and his team will continue to work on the remaining caveats to the peace plan — most of which concern the demarcation line in the event of a cessation of hostilities.
“I think part of their concerns are about the territories… what they call ʼde jure’ and ʼde facto,’” the administration official said. “De facto means we recognize that the Russians occupied this territory, but it doesn’t mean that Ukraine is giving it up forever. De jure is the recognition that [the Russians] took this land and we will never see it again,” the official said.
He says that to push Russia to the negotiating table, special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff could offer Moscow sanctions relief and possibly unfreezing seized assets.
According to this source, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told American officials that Kyiv “90%” supports President Trump’s peace plan, which was presented this week in Paris by the Secretary of State and two special representatives.
At the Paris meetings, according to Bloomberg, the American side presented its allies with a proposal for a settlement in Ukraine, which includes conditions for a cessation of hostilities and easing of sanctions against Russia. This proposal would effectively freeze the war, and the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia would remain under Moscowʼs control, the publicationʼs sources said.
The publication also wrote that the US is ready to recognize Crimea as Russian as part of a future peace agreement. At the same time, Zelensky constantly notes that Ukraine will not recognize any of its occupied territories as Russian — these are red lines. The president said on April 17 that Ukraine is discussing a ceasefire with the US, but without the issue of territories.
Ceasefire negotiations
Washington is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to end the war, but a true ceasefire is still in sight. Kyiv has already agreed to halt hostilities in the Black Sea and not attack Russian energy facilities during a 30-day truce. Moscow, in return, has only promised not to attack energy facilities and said it would implement the Black Sea agreements only after Western sanctions are lifted.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that Russia is violating the partial ceasefire and warned the Russians against dragging out the peace process. The US President Donald Trump had previously promised to impose tough sanctions against Russia in such a case, but has not yet done so.
Rubio said on April 18, after meeting with allies in Paris on April 17, that the United States could end its mediation in establishing peace in Ukraine in a few days if it does not see clear signs of the possibility of reaching a peace agreement.
On the same day, Trump confirmed his Secretary of State Rubioʼs statement that the US would withdraw from the negotiations if the parties made it difficult to end the war in Ukraine.
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