Crimea’s status could create serious diplomatic crisis in NATO - FT
Donald Trump's insistence that Ukraine officially recognise Russia's occupation of Crimea has suddenly put European leaders before a choice: to stand by Kyiv or to side with Washington.
This is reported by the Financial Times, Censor.NET informs.
The Trump administration has presented Kyiv with a draft "take-or-leave" agreement with terms that are very favourable to Moscow, including the recognition of Russia's sovereignty over Crimea by the United States.
Western officials told reporters that they would not support any US move to recognise Crimea as Russian or pressure Kyiv to accept it.
They noted that they would stick to their long-standing position: they would not accept anything that compromises Ukraine's sovereignty, which Zelenskyy opposes.
The idea of recognising the occupation of Crimea is unacceptable to Europeans because it could destroy the rules-based order that has ensured peace on the continent for generations.
"Crimea and (Ukraine's - Ed.) aspirations for NATO membership are a red line for us. We cannot give them up," the EU official said on condition of anonymity.
The European official said that the Trump administration has already been told that Europe could not recognise Crimea as Russian. The largest European NATO powers should "dissuade" Washington from unilateral action, he added.
The status of Crimea, the newspaper writes, could cause a serious diplomatic crisis in NATO. Prior to the US proposal, NATO officials had tried to downplay internal divisions over Ukraine.
The NATO summit in The Hague was supposed to discuss defence spending. However, Trump's proposed deal and the possibility that the US will withdraw from the negotiations, blaming Kyiv and establishing relations with Russia, could lead to a split among NATO leaders.
"The main issue of the summit is our attitude towards Ukraine," said a Western official.
And disagreements are likely to arise within the EU, in particular over what to do with the bloc's sanctions against Russia if Washington decides to lift its restrictions.
"The situation looks very bad," the EU official said.
He believes that any move by the US to recognise occupied Crimea as Russian territory or to demand that European capitals ease sanctions against Russia "will destroy EU unity".
Earlier it was reported that the United States expected Ukraine to respond to the "final offer" of US President Donald Trump, which includes a freeze on the front line, security guarantees for Ukraine, the US "recognition" of Crimea as part of Russia, and the lifting of sanctions against the aggressor.
US President Donald Trump has said that no one is asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to recognise Crimea as Russian territory because the peninsula was lost "many years ago".
