President Volodymyr Zelensky said that in the negotiations to resolve Russiaʼs war against Ukraine, mediated by the United States, there is still no agreement on the issue of territories, namely the eastern regions of Ukraine.
He said this in a comment to Bloomberg.
Zelensky noted that elements of the US peace plan require further discussion on a number of "sensitive issues", including security guarantees for Ukraine and control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
He added that Kyiv insists on a separate agreement on security guarantees from Western allies, primarily the United States.
"There is one question that I — and all Ukrainians — want to get an answer to: if Russia starts a war again, what will our partners do?" the Ukrainian president said.
Before that, the US President Donald Trump said he was "a little disappointed" with Zelensky because he had apparently not yet familiarized himself with the new US proposals regarding the peace plan.
According to the American president, the new conditions are supported by Russia, and the Ukrainian side also liked them, but Trump is not sure that Zelensky will agree to them.
Peace plan for Ukraine
The first version of the peace plan proposed by the United States consisted of 28 points. It provided for the recognition of Crimea, as well as the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as de facto Russian.
After a series of negotiations between Ukraine, the United States, and European partners in Geneva starting on November 23, the American plan was reduced from 28 points to 19, taking into account the Ukrainian position.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the document retained the points on the need to release civilians and prisoners of war according to the formula "all for all" and to return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
The Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia, who was part of the delegation at the negotiations, said that the clause on amnesty for potential war criminals was reworked to take into account "the complaints of those who suffered in the war".
The US also agreed not to limit the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the issue of territories was put on hold — they should be discussed by Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.
The next meeting of the American and Ukrainian delegations took place on November 30 in Florida. The United States was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trumpʼs special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trumpʼs son-in-law Jared Kushner.
After the meeting, Serhiy Kyslytsia wrote that the start of the negotiations in Florida was "good", and added that "the warm atmosphere promotes progress".
Later, on December 2, Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Moscow for talks with the Russian side on a peace plan for Ukraine. No concrete decisions were made at the talks, although Russia called the meeting “successful”.
NBC, citing a Russian source, reported that the Kremlin will not make concessions on three issues: the territories of the Donetsk region, limitations on the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and international recognition of the territories seized by Russia. But Russia is ready to be flexible on the issue of Russian assets frozen in the EU.
Zelensky then held a final two-hour phone call with Trump representatives Witkoff and Kushner. According to Axios sources, the most difficult topics during the conversation were the territories and US security guarantees for Ukraine.
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