Washington officials have had “very good meetings” with leaders in both Moscow and Kiev, according to the US president
US President Donald Trump has said that he will reveal his plan to settle the Ukraine conflict later this week. According to the New York Post, the White House proposal could include the deployment of Western European troops to the country to uphold a possible ceasefire.
The announcement follows last week’s remarks by Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who hinted that Washington could give up on its efforts to stop the fighting unless it sees tangible progress towards peace made by Russia and Ukraine.
“I will be giving you a full detail over the next three days,” Trump said on Monday, referring to his plan.
“But we had very good meetings on Ukraine, Russia… We will see how that works,” he told journalists.
The New York Post reported on Monday, citing a senior US administration official, that Russia and Ukraine are currently discussing Trump’s proposal internally.
The terms for peace “are not yet set in stone,” but the US president’s plan could include the deployment of Western European troops to Ukraine once the fighting ends, the source said.
According to the official, the so-called “‘resiliency force’ is part of the security guarantees that the Ukrainians want and we hope they get.”
A separate peacekeeping force to monitor a possible truce, which would look like a “joint commission” of Russians, Ukrainians and a third, non-NATO country is also being discussed, the source said.
The US could also be involved in it, but not as “boots on the ground, but the monetary force, along with a third party,” the official added.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s plan could include the official recognition of Crimea as Russian territory by Ukraine.
Russia has categorically ruled out the possibility of Western European troops being deployed to Ukraine. It has said repeatedly that any peace deal must address the “root causes” of the conflict, including NATO’s eastward expansion and Kiev’s aspirations to join the US-led bloc.
Moscow also demanded that Kiev recognize not only Crimea, but the People’ Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions as part of Russia. The Ukrainian leadership has so far rejected the idea of making any territorial concessions to Russia.
Last week, Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia stressed that a full ceasefire is “simply unrealistic at this stage,” accusing the West of using negotiations as a cover to rearm the Ukrainian forces.
