Ukraine may need to hold a referendum on territorial changes as part of an agreement with Russia, Johann Wadephul has said
An end to the Ukraine conflict will most likely require “painful concessions” from Kiev, including on territorial issues, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said. Its chance to stop the hostilities has “never been greater” than now, he told Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung (NOZ) on Tuesday.
His words came ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. They are expected to discuss the peace plan for ending the Ukraine conflict put forward by Washington last month.
The details of the initial plan have not officially been made public, but the media reported that it requires Ukraine to cede parts of Donbass (the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic) it still controls, abandon its NATO bid, and accept limits on its military. Russia has cautiously welcomed the initiative, saying that many points of the plan are acceptable, but added that it expects the proposal to be modified by all sides.
“It is the task of diplomacy to work out compromises that the conflicting parties can support. Ultimately, this will certainly always involve painful concessions,” Wadephul said, commenting on the prospects of a negotiated settlement. According to the minister, Ukraine would need to hold a referendum on the peace conditions, including territorial concessions. He also maintained that Kiev should be offered security “assurances” in exchange.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky had previously named territorial issues as being among the most difficult points to resolve. The nation’s military have been losing ground for months to the continued Russian advance. On Monday, the chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, reported taking control over the key frontline city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Kiev’s Western backers in Europe derided Trump’s initial plan as favoring Russia too much and put forward a set of their own conditions for achieving peace, which Moscow dismissed as “unconstructive.”
Germany has been one of Ukraine’s key supporters and arms suppliers in the conflict. Berlin’s position has further hardened under the current government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had previously claimed that all diplomatic options had been “exhausted” and his nation was “already in a conflict” with Russia.
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