Sources close to the ceasefire negotiation process, cited by the news agency Bloomberg, indicate that Ukraine is working with other pEuropean countries in a proposal to end the war caused by Russia on the current battle lines. Among the 12 points of the proposal released this Tuesday are the rejection of territory demands made by Moscow and the idea of placing the President of the United States, Donald Trump, presiding over a peace council, responsible for overseeing the implementation of the proposed plan.
If Russia agrees to a ceasefire, the plan assumes that both countries commit to stopping territorial advances, as well as the return of all children deported from Ukraine and the exchange of prisoners. For its part, Ukraine would receive security guarantees, funds to repair war damage and a path to quickly join the European Union.
Among the proposals is also that of sanctions against Russia are gradually lifted. However, around 300 billion US dollars (almost 260 billion euros) are frozen reserves of the Russian central bank and can only be returned after Moscow agrees to contribute to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. Sanctions would be applied again if Russia attacked the neighboring country again.
Although neither Europe nor Ukraine legally recognize any occupied territory as Russian, the same sources also indicated that Moscow and Kiev would enter into negotiations on the governance of the occupied territories. Russia has so far rejected calls to end fighting along existing lines, despite having suffered massive casualties in the war, which began with the Russian invasion in February 2022.
The details of the plan are being finalized and could still change, warned the same sources, who asked not to be identified. However, none of the proposals can move forward without Washington’s approval and this is one of the topics that European authorities are taking with them on their trip to the United States this week.
The proposal echoes calls made by Trump last week to immediately freeze the conflict along current lines before beginning negotiations. In the same sense, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, heads of states allied with Kiev and leaders of European institutions defended today that “the front line must be the starting point for negotiations”.
“We strongly support the position of the President [norte-americano, Donald] Trump that the fighting must cease immediately and that the current front line must be the starting point for negotiations. We remain committed to the principle that international borders should not be changed by force”, highlighted the members of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, in a position released today.
“We are convinced that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position – before, during and after any ceasefire”, said in the joint statement the presidents of the European Council, António Costa, and the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, as well as Volodymyr Zelensky. The cHeads of State or Government from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland also subscribed to the position.
Since the Russian invasion, there has been no progress in ceasefire negotiations. After returning to the White House earlier this year, Donald Trump took diplomatic steps to try to mediate an immediate ceasefire and seek security guarantees for Ukraine.
More recently, the US President proposed that the parties “stop where they are” on the ground and considered that Ukraine might have to make territorial concessions, especially in the Donbass region — which Putin annexed in September 2022. The proposal sparked concern in Kiev and European countries, which stressed that any agreement must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and cannot reward invasion by force.
Russia rejects some of the proposed ideas (such as the fixed contact line) and maintains demands on Ukraine’s surrender in certain regions.
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