Donald Trump's plan to end Ukraine war would cede territory to Russia

US President Donald Trumps plan for ending the war in Ukraine would cede land to Russia and limit the size of Kyivs military according to a draft obtained Thursday by The Associated PressThe proposal originated from negotiations between Washington and Moscow appeared decidedly favourable to Russia which started the war nearly four years ago by invading its neighbour If past is prologue it would seem untenable for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has opposed Trumps previous calls for territorial concessionsThere has also been resistance from European leaders who are likely to decry the US peace push as rewarding Russian President Vladimir Putin for his aggression leaving him emboldened rather than defeated For example the proposal would not only bar Ukraine from joining NATO but would also prevent the alliances future expansion Such a step would be a significant victory for Moscow which views NATO as a threatPutin would also gain ground he has been unable to win on the battlefield Under the draft Moscow would hold all the eastern Donbas region even though approximately 14 per cent still remains in Ukrainian hands There would be a path to lifting sanctions on Russia and returning it to what was formerly known as the Group of 8 which includes many of the worlds biggest economiesProposal increases pressure on ZelenskyyThe US team began drawing up the plan soon after US special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Rustem Umerov a top adviser to Zelenskyy according to a senior administration official who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity The official added that Umerov agreed to the majority of the plan after making several modifications and then presented it to ZelenskyyUS Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was also in Kyiv on Thursday and discussed the latest draft with Zelenskyy according to a senior administration official Zelenskyy offered a measured statement on social media about it but did not directly speak to the substance of the proposal Our teams of Ukraine and the United States will work on the provisions of the plan to end the war We are ready for constructive honest and swift work he wroteUnder the proposal Russia would commit to making no future attacks something the White House views as a concession In addition USD 100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be dedicated to rebuilding Ukraine However handing over territory to Russia would be deeply unpopular in Ukraine It also would be illegal under Ukraines constitution Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out such a possibilityRussia would also be allowed to keep half of the power generated by Europes largest nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhia which it captured from Ukraine early during the warEuropean diplomats urge wider consultationsSecretary of State Marco Rubio and Witkoff have been quietly working on the peace plan for a month receiving input from both Ukrainians and Russians on terms that are acceptable to each side White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev a close adviser to Putin have been key to drafting the proposalAs reports about the draft emerged blindsided European diplomats insisted they and Ukraine must be consulted European leaders have already been alarmed this year by indications that Trumps administration might be sidelining them and Zelenskyy in its push to stop the fighting Trumps attimes conciliatory approach to Putin has fueled those concerns but Trump adopted a tougher line last month when he announced heavy sanctions on Russias vital oil sector that come into force FridayFor any plan to work it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of a meeting in Brussels of the 27nation blocs foreign ministers She also suggested that the draft would be too favourable toward Moscow We havent heard of any concessions on the Russian side Kallas saidGerman Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul said he talked by phone Thursday with Witkoff and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss our various current efforts to end Russias war of aggression against Ukraine and thus finally put an end to the immeasurable human suffering Ukraines deputy UN Ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn told the UN Security Council that Kyiv has officially received Trumps draft peace plan and is ready to work constructively but she stressed Ukraines red linesThere will never be any recognition formal or otherwise of Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation as Russian she said Our land is not for sale Ukraine will not accept any limits on its right to selfdefense or on the size and capabilities of our armed forces nor will we tolerate any infringement on our sovereignty including our sovereign right to choose the alliances we want to join Hayovyshyn addedTrump has long pushed for end to warIt was not clear whether European foreign ministers had seen the peace plan which was first reported by Axios Although they appeared caught by surprise some elements of the plan were not new Trump said last month that the Donbas region should be cut up leaving most of it in Russian handsHowever the administrations previous diplomatic efforts this year to stop the fighting have so far come to nothing A summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska did not result in a breakthrough over the summer and plans for them to meet again in Budapest Hungary did not come to fruitionIn other developments Russias chief military officer Gen Valery Gerasimov announced that Moscows forces had taken full control of Kupiansk in Ukraines Kharkiv region although he also said some Ukrainian troops remained in the city The general staff for Ukraines armed forces denied Gerasimovs claims and said Kyivs forces remained in control of KupianskThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability 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