Trump awaits response from Ukraine on recognising Crimea as Russian and refusing to join NATO - Wall Street Journal
This week, Ukraine is being asked to respond to a number of ideas from the Trump administration, including making concessions to Russia, including potential US recognition of the 2014 annexation of Crimea and removing Kyiv from the list of NATO candidates.
According to Censor.NET, The Wall Street Journal reports this with reference to sources.
According to Western officials, these ideas were outlined in a confidential document presented by senior Trump administration officials to their Ukrainian counterparts in Paris on Thursday. They were also presented to European officials during a one-day meeting.
The US is now waiting for Kyiv's response, which is expected to come at a meeting of US, Ukrainian and European officials in London later this week. Then, if the American, European and Ukrainian positions coincide, the proposals could be passed on to Moscow.
To put pressure on Ukraine and Russia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the administration may suspend its negotiation efforts if no progress is made on key issues in the next few weeks.
Adopting some of the Trump administration's ideas may prove difficult for Kyiv, as Ukraine refuses to accept that russia has legitimate claims to any of its territory.
On Sunday, a senior U.S. State Department official described the ideas presented to the Ukrainian side as options for Kyiv to consider, rather than a "take-it-or-leave-it" proposition. The official said that the "list of potential options" was provided "for discussion and feedback".
According to US officials, Rubio, Witkoff and Kellogg plan to attend an upcoming meeting in London. After that, Witkoff may make another trip to russia, although it has not yet been announced.
According to Western officials, the ideas put forward by the Trump administration do not meet some of Russia's demands. They do not acknowledge that Russia has a legitimate right to control the four regions in eastern Ukraine that it claims to have annexed, although they do not demand that the Russian military leave these territories.
According to Western officials, the United States is also not proposing to limit the number of Ukrainian troops and does not rule out Western military support for Kyiv or the deployment of European troops, which is a key sticking point in relations with Moscow.
There is also still no decision on what types of security guarantees Ukraine could receive if it agrees to a peaceful settlement. The Trump administration has not indicated whether it is prepared to provide any military support to European countries that send troops to Ukraine as part of a "reassurance force" to deter future Russian aggression.
