President Zelenskyy nears Ukraine peace deal submission
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says proposals being negotiated with US officials for a peace deal to end his country’s nearly four-year war with Russia could be finalised within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before further possible meetings in the United States next weekend. Zelenskyy told reporters late Monday that a draft peace plan discussed with the US during talks in Berlin earlier in the day is “very workable.” He cautioned, however, that some key issues — notably what happens to Ukrainian territory occupied by invading Russian forces — remain unresolved.
US-led peace efforts appear to be picking up momentum. But Russian President Vladimir Putin may baulk at some of the proposals thrashed out by officials from Washington, Kyiv and Western Europe, including postwar security guarantees for Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Tuesday that Russia wants a comprehensive peace deal, not a temporary truce. If Ukraine seeks “momentary, unsustainable solutions, we are unlikely to be ready to participate, Peskov said. “We want peace — we don’t want a truce that would give Ukraine a respite and prepare for the continuation of the war,” he told reporters. “We want to stop this war, achieve our goals, secure our interests, and guarantee peace in Europe for the future.”
American officials on Monday said that there’s a consensus from Ukraine and Europe on about 90 per cent of the US-authored peace plan. US President Donald Trump said, “I think we’re closer now than we have ever been, ever, to a peace settlement. Plenty of potential pitfalls remain, however. Zelenskyy reiterated that Kyiv rules out recognising Moscow’s control over any part of the Donbas, an economically important region in eastern Ukraine made up of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia’s army doesn’t fully control either.
“The Americans are trying to find a compromise,” Zelenskyy said, before visiting the Netherlands on Tuesday. “They are proposing a free economic zone’ (in the Donbas). And I want to stress once again: a free economic zone does not mean under the control of the Russian Federation.” The land issue remains one of the most difficult obstacles to a comprehensive agreement.
Putin wants all the areas in the four key regions that his forces have seized, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognised as Russian territory. Zelenskyy warned that if Putin rejects diplomatic efforts, Ukraine expects increased Western pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and additional military support for defence. Kyiv would seek enhanced air defence systems and long-range weapons if diplomacy collapses, he said.
Ukraine and the US are preparing up to five documents related to the peace framework, several of them focused on security, Zelenskyy said. He was upbeat about the progress in the Berlin talks. “Overall, there was a demonstration of unity,” Zelenskyy said. “It was truly positive in the sense that it reflected the unity of the US, Europe, and Ukraine. Dutch PM Dick Schoof meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in The Hague, Netherlands.
