The US officials are developing a four-part peace plan — reconstruction of Ukraine, security guarantees, economic integration of Russia, Ukraine, and Europe, and freezing the front line. The Office of the President of Ukraine called it “not bad PR”.
The journalist and deputy editor-in-chief David Ignatius wrote about this plan in his column for The Washington Post, citing sources.
According to this plan, the first component will be the reconstruction of Ukraine. The World Bank and the investment company “BlackRock” want to create a mechanism to meet numerous financial needs. The reconstruction of the destroyed areas of the country, the payment of assistance to the families of the dead and wounded soldiers, and the restoration of the destroyed economy.
Negotiators have asked Kyiv to provide detailed estimates of the necessary costs and guarantees that the money will not be embezzled by those who will be engaged in post-war reconstruction. The Ukrainian side has not yet provided figures, but this is expected to happen in the coming days if the peace efforts do not collapse.
The second necessary component will be security guarantees. The United States and European countries will promise Ukraine a military response in the event of another Russian attack.
The American official called these guarantees the equivalent of NATOʼs Article 5. According to him, Russia will also negotiate with Europe on agreements that take into account its security concerns, although it is not yet clear what they will entail.
The third component would be economic integration between Russia, Ukraine, and Europe through an energy deal. One element of this could be a pipeline to deliver Russian oil and gas to Europe, with the profits shared between Ukraine and Russia.
Such a pipeline could significantly reduce Europe’s energy costs, according to a US official. In addition to providing Russia with “long-term access to the European energy market”, the peace deal would determine which economic sanctions would be lifted and when.
The final part of the deal is to freeze the front line at its current positions. Russia must cease fire, and for Ukraine, this would mean agreeing to Russia controlling the territories it has occupied. One obstacle is that the line of control is unclear, as the front line changes slightly almost every day.
Against this background, the Ukrainian Presidentʼs communications advisor Dmytro Lytvyn, in a comment to journalists, called the peace plan "not bad PR".
"It doesnʼt say that this is a separate track, and itʼs not ʼthe USA and European countries.ʼ This is a retelling of the view of part of the American team at the meeting in Florida, where there were Americans, Ukrainians, and Europeans," he commented on the plan given in the column.
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