War

One thousand three hundred and sixty-eighth day. Europe is trying to buy Ukraine more time to discuss Trump's plan

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

European leaders are trying to buy Ukraine more time to develop a new peace agreement amid pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump. According to Bloomberg, their idea is to essentially rewrite much of the document, presenting it as “constructive updates.”

According to agency sources, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll this week informed EU representatives of the need to conclude an agreement as soon as possible, since Ukraine, according to Washington, is “in a deplorable state” and now is the best time for peace.

The Financial Times, citing a high-ranking European official, writes that that meeting took place yesterday in Kiev at the residence of the US Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine and was held in a “sickening” tone. Driscoll, according to the FT source, bluntly stated: “We are not discussing the details of the plan” and emphasized that the proposed deal is the best that Ukraine can hope for. The US representative was late for the meeting and used a large amount of obscene language during it, the source added.

The German publication Der Spiegel reported yesterday that the emergence of the US peace plan had caused "great alarm and irritation" in European countries. According to the publication's sources, the German authorities learned the details not directly from Washington, but from the American media, which was regarded as a provocation. At the same time, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper claims that the Chancellor's advisers on geopolitical issues and German intelligence services knew about the plan at the end of October, and on November 11 it was even discussed at a meeting of the German Security Council.

At the same time, as Bloomberg writes, when the initial shock in Europe associated with the publication of the plan subsided, some officials suggested that the situation could develop “like last time.” In August, when Trump, after negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, put forward strict demands to Ukraine, largely repeating the position of the Russian Federation, after some resistance from Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders, the US President retreated.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit that began today in Johannesburg, the leaders of the European countries participating in the association discussed Trump's plan. They then issued a statement , with the participation of the leaders of Canada and Japan, applauding US efforts to achieve peace and calling the plan "a framework that will require more work." They expressed “concern” about the restrictions on the size of the Armed Forces proposed in it and emphasized that “the borders of states should not be changed by force.”

The head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, announced today that in the coming days, representatives of Kiev will hold consultations with the US delegation to discuss “possible parameters” for a peace plan in Switzerland. In his telegram post, Umerov first said that Europeans would also take part in them, but almost immediately removed the mention of this. According to sources from the German agency dpa, the first round of consultations will take place tomorrow.

The Bild publication, citing sources, writes that European leaders are not satisfied with four points from Trump’s plan - proposals to recognize Russian sovereignty over Ukrainian territories, reduction of the Ukrainian army, the topic of security guarantees and the topic of using frozen Russian assets.

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.

Alexander (Novosibirsk) . I am for any peace plan. The only problem is that the more time passes, the worse the conditions for Ukraine are.

Could this trend change? Let's try to think. Has Ukraine carried out many counter-offensives? There have been attempts, but the front line is slowly but surely creeping deeper into Ukraine. Maybe the West is helping with troops? No, but the amount of [financial] assistance is decreasing. Maybe the Ukrainian economy is stronger than the Russian economy? It’s simply stupid to compare them, even taking into account the thousands of sanctions imposed on Russia. Maybe the internal political situation is more stable in Ukraine - just as [it is stable] in the Russian Federation? Not either. Or maybe Russia’s allies have changed their attitude towards it in four years? No, and they are unlikely to change.

I am sure that the peace plan will be rejected, as everyone rejected it before, but nothing will change in the balance of forces at the front, [and the situation will develop] not in favor of Ukraine. Therefore, in six months we will discuss a new plan - with even worse conditions for Ukraine.

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