The terms of Washington’s final offer for peace in Ukraine have been published, displaying a significant gap between the US and Europe in their plans for peace.
A US team passed on the proposals during talks in Paris on 17 April and London on 23 April, prompting European and Ukrainian officials to push back with their own set of demands.
Laying bare stark differences in position, the US proposals were presented by secretary of state Marco Rubio as a “broad framework” to identify differences between the sides. The document itself, seen by Reuters, described it as a “final offer” made to both sides.
Territory, sanctions on Russia, security guarantees and the size of Ukraine’s military were among the main contentions in the two documents.
It comes as Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has reportedly arrived in Moscow for a critical meeting with Vladimir Putin, as the US president claims they are “very close” to a peace deal.
Mr Witkoff, who has emerged as Washington’s key representative in Ukraine peace talks, has already held three long meetings with the Russia autocrat. This meeting comes one day after Mr Trump demanded that Putin “STOP!” his bombardment of Ukraine.
Sam Kiley | Why Crimea matters so much to Putin – and now Trump
The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:
Crimea is footnoted in British history for the Earl of Cardigan and his disastrous leading of the Charge of the Light Brigade. To Vladimir Putin it’s where history itself must turn.
Donald Trump, taking an 18th-century might-is-right approach, has said that the peninsula was captured without a fight by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 and therefore should stay in Putin’s fist.
Of all the 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory taken after Russia invaded Crimea 11 years ago and launched its wider Anschluss in 2022, Crimea is the greatest Russian prize.
Whoever controls Sevastopol is likely to dominate the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Outside of Tartus, in Syria, which Russia lost recently, it is – or was – Russia’s only warm-weather port.
Pictured: Flowers and toys laid at site where children killed by Russian strike in Kyiv
In full: European and Ukrainian counterproposals to end war
Here are the counterproposals made by Ukraine and its European allies, after Washington put forward it’s initial proposals.
- Commit to a full and unconditional ceasefire in the sky, on land and at sea.
- Both sides immediately enter into negotiations on technical implementation with the participation of the US and European countries. This is in parallel to preparation of the agenda and modalities for a full peace deal.
- Ceasefire monitoring, led by the US and supported by third countries.
- Russia must unconditionally return all deported and illegally displaced Ukrainian children. Exchange of all prisoners of war (the principle of “all for all”). Russia must release all civilian prisoners.
Security guarantees for Ukraine:
- Ukraine receives robust security guarantees including from the US (Article 5-like agreement), while there is no consensus among Allies on NATO membership.
- No restrictions on the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
- The guarantor states will be an ad hoc group of European countries and willing non-European countries. No restrictions on the presence, weapons and operations of friendly foreign forces on the territory of Ukraine.
- Ukraine pursues accession to the EU.
Territory:
- Territorial issues will be discussed and resolved after a full and unconditional ceasefire.
- Territorial negotiations start from the basis of the line of control.
- Ukraine regains control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant with US involvement, and also the Kakhovka Dam.
- Ukraine enjoys unhindered passages on the Dnieper River and control of the Kinburn Spit.
Economics:
- US and Ukraine implement economic cooperation/minerals agreement.
- Ukraine will be fully reconstructed and compensated financially, including through Russian sovereign assets that will remain frozen until Russia compensates damage to Ukraine.
- US sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 may be subject to gradual easing after a sustainable peace is achieved and subject to resumption in the event of a breach of the peace agreement.
In full: US proposals to end war in Ukraine revealed
Here are the US proposals to end the war in full, as revealed by Reuters news agency:
- Permanent ceasefire
- Both sides immediately engage in technical implementation negotiations Ukraine security guarantee
- Ukraine receives robust security guarantee
- Guarantor states will be an ad hoc grouping of European states plus willing non-European states
- Ukraine will not seek to join NATO
- Ukraine may pursue EU membership Territory
- US provides de jure recognition of Russian control of Crimea
- US provides de facto recognition of Russian control of Luhansk
- US provides de facto recognition of Russian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson
- Ukraine regains territory in Kharkiv Oblast
- Ukraine regains control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant through US control and administration of the plant, with electricity distributed to both sides, and also the Kakhovka Dam
- Ukraine enjoys unhindered passage on Dnieper River and control of the Kinburn Spit Economics
- United States and Ukraine will implement economic cooperation/minerals agreement
Full text of European and US proposals to end war display clear differences
The divergence between European and US proposals to end the war in Ukraine has been revealed, after the full texts of both proposals have been revealed by Reuters.
The proposals were put forward in talks between US, European and Ukrainian officials in Paris on 17 April and in London on 23 April.
Territory, sanctions on Russia, security guarantees and the size of Ukraine’s military mark the main points of contention between the two documents.
The two documents were exchanged as a “broad framework” to identify the differences between the sides.
Emergency worker hurt due to Pavlohrad attack, say emergency services
An emergency worker was injured as a result of Russia’s repeat attack on Pavlohrad, Ukraine’s emergency services said.
The industrial city of Pavlohrad had a pre-war population of about 100,000 people. It is an important railway hub for the Dnipropetrovsk region, connecting it to the east of the country.
As a result of the attack, which killed three people, city infrastructure has also been damaged, and a social institution was partially destroyed. Several cars also burned down.
Five people killed in renewed Russian attacks, say officials
A child was among five people killed in renewed Russian attacks on Ukraine, officials said on Friday.
Three of the victims were killed in the city of Pavlohrad after a drone strike, said Serhiy Lysak, governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
“The aggressor again conducted a mass attack on the region with drones,” Lysak wrote on Telegram, adding that 11 drones were destroyed over the region.
He said that 14 people were wounded in the attack on a five-storey building, including a six-year-old boy and teenagers, aged 15 and 17. Five of the wounded remained in hospital, he added, without specifying at what time the attack took place.
“Unfortunately, there are already three dead in Pavlohrad. Among them is a child,” he said in a later update.
Ukraine hopes to prevent international recognition of Crimea as Russian territory – draft document
Ukraine hopes to prevent formal international recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and other occupied territories as part of a peace deal, a draft document reveals.
Seen by The Telegraph, the five-point document stresses in its first two points that a peace agreement must be based on international law rather than capitulation, and specifically warns of the potential that China could invade Taiwan if Moscow and its allies are emboldened.
Firm security guarantees are a necessary condition for any future peace agreement, it says.
The third point aims to shift control over negotiations away from Donald Trump and back towards Kyiv, the outlet says.
The fourth point warns Nato and Washington that allowing Russia to hold on to Crimea would allow it to threaten not just Ukraine but other Black Sea allies including Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria.
The fifth point states that no agreement must be made which restricts the size of Ukraine’s military.
In pictures: Three killed in Russia attack on Pavlohrad
Two killed in Russian air bombing in Donetsk region
Two people were killed after Russia dropped an air bomb on a residential building in a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the local prosecutor’s office said.
The attack on Friday morning on the village of Yarova also caused damage to several buildings.
“At 05:10, enemy forces conducted two airstrikes on the village of Yarova in the Lyman hromada. As a result of a direct strike on a residential building at their place of residence, a 61-year-old man and his 88-year-old father sustained fatal injuries,” the prosecutor said according to Ukrainska Pravda.
It appears that the Russians used an FAB-250 air bomb t attack the settlement.
Source: independent.co.uk