Europe, Ukraine prepare 12-point plan to end war, propose Trump to chair peace board
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A Ukrainian soldier fires a D-30 howitzer towards Russian troops near the front line town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BRUSSELS - European nations are working with Ukraine on a 12-point proposal to end Russia’s war along current battle lines, pushing back against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s renewed demands to the US for Kyiv to surrender territory in return for a peace deal.
A peace board chaired by US President Donald Trump would oversee implementation of the proposed plan, according to people familiar with the matter.
Once Russia follows Ukraine in agreeing to a ceasefire and both sides commit to halting territorial advances, the proposals envisage the return of all deported children to Ukraine and exchanges of prisoners. Ukraine would receive security guarantees, funds to repair war damage and a pathway to rapidly join the European Union.
Sanctions on Russia would gradually be lifted though some US$300 billion (S$388 billion) in frozen central bank reserves would only be returned once Moscow agrees to contribute toward Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. The restrictions would snap back if Russia attacked its neighbour again.
Moscow and Kyiv would enter into negotiations on the governance of occupied territories, though neither Europe nor Ukraine will legally recognise any occupied land as Russian, the people said.
Russia has so far rejected calls to end the fighting along existing lines, despite incurring massive casualties in the war that’s now in its fourth year.
Details of the plan are being finalised and could still change, the people cautioned, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Any proposal would also need buy-in from Washington and European officials may travel to the US this week, the people said.
The pitch echoes calls made by Mr Trump last week to immediately freeze the conflict along current lines before starting negotiations.
Following a call with Mr Putin and a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US president said Russia and Ukraine should “stop where they are.”
“Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts,” he said in a Truth Social post.
He reiterated his position in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One, saying both sides should “stop right now at the battle lines, go home, stop killing people and be done,” adding that they could discuss territory later.
Mr Trump said he’s agreed to meet with Mr Putin in Budapest in the coming weeks. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held phone talks on Oct 21 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov but the two sides failed to reach agreement on a meeting to prepare for the summit.
The White House and Kremlin sought to play down expectations
“The work ahead will be challenging,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Oct 21, according to the Interfax news service. “Neither President Trump nor President Putin have given a precise timeframe. Preparation, serious preparation, is needed.”
European leaders said they “strongly support” an immediate halt to Russia’s war in Ukraine along existing positions to allow for peace talks in a statement on Oct 21.
Ukraine’s allies from the so-called Coalition of the Willing will convene on Oct 24. A summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on Oct 23 will discuss additional sanctions targeting the Kremlin as well as financial aid to Ukraine
While Mr Zelensky criticized Budapest as a venue for negotiations because of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Russia-friendly stance, he said he’d attend the summit talks if invited.
“We have moved closer to a possible end to the war, I can tell you that for certain,” Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv following his US visit. “That doesn’t mean it will definitely end, but President Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and riding that wave he wants to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
Mr Trump made no mention of Ukraine’s requests for more air defence, energy support or longer-range capabilities after his meeting with Mr Zelensky on Oct 24.
During their discussions, Mr Trump forcefully urged Mr Zelensky to quickly accept a deal and emphasised Russia’s strengths, according to the people. US officials who were present floated the possibility of Ukraine making territorial concessions to enable an agreement, the people said.
The Ukrainian president said in remarks released over the weekend that the war should be frozen along current battle lines before the two sides can enter into peace negotiations.
“If we want to stop this war and to go to peace negotiations urgently and in a diplomatic way, we need to stay where we stay, not to give something additional to Putin,” he said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press With Kristen Welker broadcast on Oct 19.
Ukraine’s allies have seen no signs of Mr Putin shifting away from his maximalist demands, a senior European government official said. The only change they see is in Mr Trump, who allies thought had come around to the need to increase pressure on Russia only to apparently backtrack again after talking to Mr Putin, the official said.
The Russian president renewed demands that Ukraine cede the entire eastern Donbas area during his call with Mr Trump
Russian troops have failed to fully occupy the area, which comprises the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in more than 11 years of fighting, and would likely take years to do so, if at all.
It’s unclear if Moscow is willing to make any territorial concessions elsewhere in return, said the people. In addition to the Crimean peninsula that it illegally annexed in 2014 and parts of the Donbas, Russia also partly occupies and lays claim to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. BLOOMBERG
