War

One thousand three hundred sixty-sixth day. Donald Trump's new peace plan - briefly and point by point

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters in our daily materials because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. What do you think about the peace plan proposed by the US? Is this encouragement of Russian aggression or an opportunity to end the almost four-year war? Should Ukraine agree to these terms before the situation gets worse—or reject and continue the war in the hope of achieving a stronger negotiating position in the future? The feedback form is at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .

World

Last night, several international media outlets, citing sources, published details of a new peace plan to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, which was developed by the United States. None of them published this plan in full; it is only known that it contains 28 points. Here are the key ones mentioned in various publications:

• Ukraine must withdraw troops from the Donetsk region and give it under Russian control. Donetsk and Lugansk regions will be declared a demilitarized zone. There will be no Russian troops there. For control over Donbass, Russia will pay “rent” to Ukraine (what this means is not very clear).
• The front line in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions will be frozen. In the future, following the results of negotiations, the Russian Federation must return to Ukraine some part of the occupied territories in these areas (which one is again unclear).
• The United States officially recognizes Russian sovereignty over Donbass and Crimea. This is not required from Ukraine.
• The number of Armed Forces of Ukraine will be reduced - according to various sources, by two or two and a half times. The deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine will be prohibited.
• Ukraine will have to recognize the official status of the Russian language and allow the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• Russia must make a legal commitment to no longer attack Ukraine and other European countries.
• The United States will provide Ukraine with security guarantees in the event of a new military aggression (what exactly guarantees are again unclear).
• Sanctions will be lifted from Russia. Investigations into alleged war crimes must be stopped.

The development of the plan was supervised by the special envoy of the US President Steve Witkoff, who was in contact with the representative of the Russian Federation Kirill Dmitriev - Ukraine and European countries did not participate in the discussion of the plan. In addition to Witkoff, as NBC later reported , US Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were involved in developing the plan. Trump himself, according to the channel, has already approved the plan.

Politico wrote that the plan began to be prepared at the end of October, when Witkoff met with Dmitriev in Miami. Officials in Europe and Ukraine were “stunned” to learn of the plan’s existence. As the publication notes, this became especially painful because, in their opinion, Trump “finally began to realize Putin’s insincerity in achieving a settlement.”

Many aspects of the plan still remain unclear even to American officials, writes Politico: in particular, it is not yet clear whether NATO will be mentioned in it, and if so, how. One of the publication's sources also noted that the plan was drawn up without the necessary interdepartmental coordination and a number of senior officials in the White House and State Department were not aware of its discussion.

Ukraine did not officially comment on the plan. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky last night, when publications with details of the plan were just beginning to appear in the media, published a post following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdogan, in which he noted that Kiev “from the very beginning of the year” supports Trump’s “decisive steps” to end the war. “The key to stopping the bloodshed and lasting peace is that we work in coordination with all partners and that American leadership remains effective, strong, and moving peace closer,” he wrote.

Zelensky, who returned from Turkey, today met in Kyiv with American generals led by US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll. The results of the meeting were not reported; earlier, RBC-Ukraine, citing a source, reported that the main topic of the conversation would be “pressure on Zelensky” so that he would generally accept the American plan.

Update . The office of the President of Ukraine confirmed that at the meeting the Americans officially presented Zelensky with a peace plan.

Russia at the official level also refuses to make substantive comments. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said today that he “cannot add anything new.” He also stated that there are currently no consultations between the United States and the Russian Federation on the issue of a peaceful settlement. “Of course there are contacts. But there is no process that could be called consultations, it is not underway,” he said. Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova also said yesterday that Russia is not currently negotiating with the United States through official channels.

In the European Union, officials expressed muted criticism of the plan. “For any plan to work, the support of Ukrainians and Europeans is needed. In addition, we must understand that in this war there is one aggressor and one victim. We have not heard of any concessions from Russia. If Russia really wanted peace, it could have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire long ago,” said EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas.

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

How we choose letters

Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.

Andrey (Dresden, formerly Ukraine) . I sincerely voted for Zelensky in 2019, after the series “Servant of the People.” He is a very charismatic person, and it seemed to me that he was not lying, and that my future could be connected with Ukraine. Then, after the start of a full-scale invasion, I supported him with both hands, because he did not run away, was always in touch, and said the right things.

My attitude towards Zelensky changed when I saw an old clip with Gordon, where Volodymyr Aleksandrovich says that he is ready to negotiate with the devil. And two days before that, he said in an [information] marathon that he would never negotiate with Putin . Inconsistency. Well, I began to understand that these people are not about the world, but about their pockets and the pockets of their friends. Then I decided to leave and connect my life with Europe.

The fact that people steal from us is not news to anyone. But I always want to believe that when people are caught in the act, everything must change. I see right now that nothing has changed and will never change. Because Ukraine has become a country where you can only earn dirty money, deceive, steal. And it became such a country a long time ago, it’s just not visible from the inside.

Today [the Russian army] hit a house in Ternopil . And I watch the news where Zelensky shakes hands with Umerov in Istanbul. Why is he there at such an important moment and not in Ukraine? Because money.

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