Major disagreements over the peace plan for Ukraine
Peace in Ukraine remains a distant prospect.
Donald Trump, President of the United States, continues to mediate between Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, and predicted that an agreement to achieve peace was close.
However, Ukraine has flatly rejected the basis of the peace proposal ultimately put forward by Donald Trump following talks between his administration and Vladimir Putin's Russia.
The main disagreement concerns control of Crimea. Donald Trump sought to convince Volodymyr Zelensky to permanently cede the Crimean peninsula to Russia, an area still occupied by the Russian army, but the Ukrainian administration does not legally recognise the Russian occupation. Crimea was ceded during the Soviet era to the then Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine, which was part of the USSR, for administrative reasons following a decision by the then Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev, and has a large Russian population. The Russian majority was precisely the main argument for the illegal annexation by Vladimir Putin's Russia in 2014, in the face of clashes with the Ukrainian government at the time over the management of the area.
‘Ukraine does not legally recognise the occupation of Crimea. There is nothing to discuss here. This goes against our Constitution,' said Volodimir Zelenski, adding that ‘sovereignty is not negotiable'. This was a strong statement from the Ukrainian president, which was flatly rejected by Donald Trump, who attacked the Ukrainian leader, considering his statements to be ‘inflammatory' and only serving to make it ‘difficult to end this war'.
The United States stepped up diplomatic efforts to reach a peace agreement, with US pressure demanding that Ukraine and Russia cede part of the territory already controlled by both sides after the fighting. Meanwhile, US Vice President J. D. Vance said that his country would withdraw from mediation if Ukraine and Russia did not reach an agreement, something that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had already indicated at the time. ‘It is time to take, if not the final step, then one of the final steps, which is, broadly speaking, for each side to say, ‘Let's stop the killing, let's freeze the territorial lines somewhere close to where they are today,’ Vance said, adding that ’that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are going to have to give up some of the territory they now hold.’
His warning came after talks in London between officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ukraine and the United States, aimed at securing a ceasefire, were suspended after Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, cancelled their participation in the meeting. This snub is seen as punishment for Ukraine for not accepting the US-led peace proposal, a refusal that is normal because it would mean that the Ukrainian administration is practically surrendering and tolerating the Russian invasion by officially and legally ceding up to 20% of its territory, which was invaded by the Russian army.
Now, US diplomacy is focused on this week's talks in Moscow, where Witkoff will meet with Vladimir Putin for the fourth time to try to stop the war.
President Zelensky insisted on ‘an immediate, complete and unconditional ceasefire’ respecting Ukraine's territorial sovereignty, in view of the talks taking place. This is particularly important given Donald Trump's latest statements hinting at Washington's willingness to officially recognise the territory occupied by Russia in Ukraine, including Crimea, following the agreements reached between the Russian and US administrations, facilitated by the good relations that have always existed between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, inherited from the previous Trump administration.
The war continues
While difficult contacts continue in an attempt to achieve peace, hostilities continue on Ukrainian territory. For example, the capital Kiev continues to be the target of intense bombing, increasing the number of fatalities on Ukrainian territory.
The new wave of attacks is seen by Ukraine as a clear message of submission and pressure in the face of the talks that have been taking place in recent months since Donald Trump's re-election as US president. All this is compounded by the political pressure exerted by the US president, who is seeking to increase his influence over Zelensky to make him back down and agree to cede territory to Russia, as has been made clear on several occasions, including the dramatic scene in which Trump and officials from his administration cornered the Ukrainian president in the White House itself, even threatening that Ukraine's hardline stance could lead to a new world war.