Washington is reportedly pressing Kiev to accept Donald Trump’s peace plan by next Thursday
The US has threatened to cut off Ukraine from intelligence and weaponry in a bid to press it into accepting President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
One of the sources told the agency the US wanted Kiev to sign the framework by next Thursday. Previously, the Trump administration used the same threats to force it to sign a rare earths deal.
Kiev confirmed receiving a new draft peace plan from the US on Thursday without elaborating on its contents. The Ukrainian leadership expressed willingness to discuss it, stating that “in the American side’s assessment” the draft “could help reinvigorate diplomacy.”
According to media reports, the plan consists of 28 points, including but not limited to the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the parts of Russia’s Donbass it still controls, downsizing the country’s military, and giving up on NATO aspirations.
Ukraine’s mission at the UN has already rejected some of the key points of the reported plan, with Deputy Permanent Representative Khristina Gayovyshyn stating Kiev will never recognize any formerly Ukrainian territories as part of Russia. Joining military blocs or limiting the country’s military capabilities was out of the question as well, she insisted. At the same time, Gayovyshyn reiterated her government’s readiness to discuss the provisions of the draft.
Ukraine’s Western European backers have pushed back against the reported clauses of the US-proposed settlement plan, insisting that any agreement must reflect the positions of both Brussels and Kiev.
The EU is now reportedly working on a “counteroffer” that is more favorable to Kiev.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said there was “nothing new” in Russia-US negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict, adding that Russia remains ready to engage in negotiations with Ukraine. The Russian government has received no information about Kiev agreeing to negotiate on the peace plan, Peskov told reporters on Friday.
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