The British newspaper The Telegraph has learned what proposals for ending the Russian-Ukrainian war Ukrainian representatives submitted to the United States at negotiations in London, which took place on April 23.
The newspaper writes that in total Kyiv has put forward five demands. The key one is that Crimea, annexed by Russia, cannot be officially recognized as Russian territory.
“Ukraine hopes to effectively deprive Russia of any official international recognition of its sovereignty over Crimea or other occupied territories. The 1st and 2nd paragraphs focus on presenting any peace agreement as ʼbased on international law, not surrender’, with a specific warning about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan,” the Telegraph writes.
Ukraine also emphasized the importance of clear security guarantees "as the price for any prospective peace agreement under which Ukraine would cede territory to Russia, even temporarily".
The 3rd paragraph of the document states that Ukraine must return “to the center of the peace process”. In the 4th paragraph, the US and NATO warn that Russia, while retaining control of Crimea, could threaten to attack not only Ukraine, but also other Black Sea countries — Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The 5th point noted that within the framework of the peace agreement, Russia cannot be allowed to limit the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and its defense industry.
As The Telegraph points out, Ukraineʼs Western allies are lobbying for the proposed changes. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the newspaper in an interview that the parties are "at an intensive stage of negotiations". He hopes a lasting ceasefire can be announced by the summer.
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 ceasefire. 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.
According to Bloomberg, the US side has 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 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after meeting with allies in Paris that the US could end its mediation efforts in Ukraine within days if it does not see clear signs of a peace deal. Trump confirmed his words the same day.
Washington was expected to propose recognizing illegally annexed Crimea as part of the Russian Federation and freezing the front line as part of a peace agreement as early as April 23, as reported by The Washington Post. Zelensky stressed that Ukraine had not received any official proposals to exchange or give up territories, and Kyiv does not legally recognize Russiaʼs annexation of Crimea.
Trump criticized Zelensky for his statement that Ukraine does not legally recognize Crimea as Russian. The American president is convinced that this statement is "very damaging to peace negotiations with Russia" and that Crimea "was lost during the presidency of Barack Obama".
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