Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators have come up with “new ideas” on how to reach a peace agreement to end close to four years of full-scale war in eastern Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump pledged ahead of returning to the White House that he would end the Ukraine war in just 24 hours. Close to a year later, progress toward a deal has been slow, plagued by concerns from Kyiv and its European allies that a future agreement brokered by a mercurial U.S. administration could prioritize Russian interests. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow of dodging signing a deal while continuing to hammer the country with persistent, deadly strikes.
Ukraine made a revised 20-point peace proposal public on Wednesday after fresh rounds of talks with U.S. officials.
What To Know
Ukrainian representatives spoke for close to an hour with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Zelensky said in his evening address on Thursday.
The Ukrainian leader said the two teams had a “truly good conversation” that generated “new ideas in terms of formats, meetings, and, of course, timing on how to bring a real peace closer.” Zelensky did not elaborate on which “new ideas” he was referencing.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday the Russian delegation had spoken with U.S. officials after Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund who has emerged as a key negotiator, visited Miami for talks.
Dmitriev has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the talks in Florida, Peskov said, according to remarks reported by state media. Yuriy Ushakov, a presidential aide, spoke with the U.S. after Dmitriev’s trip, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported.
Witkoff said earlier this week the U.S. held “productive and constructive meetings” with Dmitriev shortly after issuing a similar statement about conversations with Ukraine.
Zelensky said in a follow-up statement early on Friday Ukraine had agreed to a meeting with Trump “in the near future.”
The Ukrainian leader told reporters on Tuesday he may be willing to pull Ukrainian troops back from parts of the eastern Donetsk region still under Kyiv’s control and establish a demilitarized zone, if Russia also withdraws from parts of the east. Moscow has not indicated it is willing to meet this demand.
A second option outlined by the Ukrainian president to the media could effectively freeze the conflict along the four mainland regions Russia has claimed to have annexed, which would be monitored by international forces.
Russia has said it had annexed the two eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk—collectively known as the Donbas—as well as the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of the country. Moscow seized the Crimean Peninsula to the south of the mainland in 2014. Russia has been unwilling to give up its claims to these five regions, whereas Kyiv has consistently vowed to reclaim the territories and says giving up land would be against its constitution.
Among the 20 points of the draft document, as published by Ukrainian media, are a commitment to sovereignty, the country’s accession to the European Union and pledges of “Article 5-like” security guarantees from the U.S., NATO and European signatories.
The information was released to the public on Wednesday.
The 28-point peace proposal originally formulated by the U.S. in November sparked instant alarm in Kyiv and among Ukraine’s allies, as it was viewed as rewarding Russia and damaging Ukraine. The U.S. was forced to deny Moscow had come up with the proposed terms.
On Thursday, Kyiv’s military said Ukraine had attacked a major Russian oil refinery using British Storm Shadow missiles,
Kyiv’s air force “successfully struck” the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region bordering eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said in a statement.
What People Are Saying
“A lot can be decided before the New Year,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.
“The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to take the necessary measures to undermine the military-economic potential of the Russian invaders and force the Russian Federation to cease armed aggression against Ukraine,” Kyiv’s military said on Thursday.
About the Author
Discover more from USA NEWS
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
