Russia agrees to return part of the occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to Ukraine, but demands recognition of Crimea and Donbas
American edition Axios has made public the details of a peace plan being discussed The United States and Russia and which is to be presented to Ukraine in the coming days.
According to journalists, one of the key points provides that:
Russia may return to Ukraine part of the occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions,
but subject to the start of negotiations and the fulfilment of another requirement - international recognition of Crimea and the occupied part of Donbas as Russian territory.
The terms of Trump's plan
The plan includes a number of provisions, including:
de facto Recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea;
consolidation of Donbas with Russia in exchange for a partial withdrawal of troops in the south;
ceasefire on the designated lines;
further multi-level security guarantees.
For Ukraine, these points are unacceptable, This has been repeatedly emphasised at the official level.
Ukraine's response
Ukrainian authorities, according to Axios, categorically denies most of the points of the plan. Kyiv insists that:
any agreements must comply with international law;
the issue of territories cannot be the subject of bargaining;
Negotiations are possible only if the territorial integrity is restored.
Witkoff's meeting cancelled
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff was to meet today with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, to discuss the proposed plan. But the meeting was postponed, probably due to the large-scale political resonance and criticism of the document.
Context.
This is the second publication in 24 hours to report that negotiations between the US and Russia are accelerating.
Earlier, Reuters wrote that the terms of the plan should be handed over to Zelensky tomorrow.
At the same time, Turkey has announced its own role in a potential peace process.
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