US President Donald Trump said he has reservations about Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s intentions on ending the conflict in Ukraine, saying the peace negotiations can move forward only with Trump’s approval.
Trump and Zelenskyy are scheduled to meet in Florida on Sunday to discuss the revised 20-point peace framework prepared by Washington, which includes a freeze of the frontline in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
The peace framework also demands Moscow’s withdrawal from several important regions and restructuring of the Ukrainian military force strength to 800,000, backed by NATO allies.
The United States has rejected Kyiv’s NATO bid, Zelenskyy’s plan envisions “Article 5-like security guarantees” from the US, NATO, and European states to Ukraine, demands that were long ruled out by Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia has reacted strongly to what it describes as a “radically different plan than the one tabled by US negotiators”.
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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said, “The proposal is opposite to the 27-point peace plan, which we were working on with the US side… over the past weeks.”
The initial peace plan envisaged strong security guarantees for Ukraine if the Zelenskyy regime agreed to limit troop numbers below 6,00,000, abandon the aspirations to NATO, and cede Kherson, Donetsk, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Russia maintains that a sustainable settlement is only possible if Ukraine recognises new territorial realities and commits to neutrality, demilitarisation, and denazification.
Trump warned Zelenskyy in the recent past of stalling peace efforts if mediation attempts are hindered by Ukraine’s “backers” in the EU.
Experts say that the Florida summit will test whether personal diplomacy between Trump and Zelenskyy can bridge the divide or further entrench Ukraine in conflict with Russia.
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