Lithuanian FM: Most reports on Trump’s Ukraine peace plan are baseless

"About 70 percent of the information in the public domain regarding supposed fragments or intentions of the plan from either side, I can confirm, is baseless. There’s testing, [...] trying to check one idea or another, and so on," the minister stated.

Budrys and his Baltic counterparts visited the US last week and advised their American partners to keep all options on the table during negotiations.

"We’re talking about [Ukraine’s] NATO membership, we’re putting NATO membership on the table, which is something we’ve always said should be done. Not just because it’s the easiest, most direct way to ensure Ukraine’s security, but simply because by discarding the very idea, you weaken any negotiation positions," he explained.

Budrys added that he does not expect the Trump administration to publicly unveil a negotiation plan, as that is not how diplomacy works. Instead, he emphasized that "you have to keep some cards up your sleeve; the negotiation positions need to be formulated strongly."

He also noted that Russia has yet to show any willingness to negotiate.

"There are some signals that the sanctions package could be significantly expanded and that military support for Ukraine could be unprecedented if no deal is reached, [and these signals] are real. We’ll see what leverage they choose," Budrys concluded.

Trump’s peace plan

Recently, Trump told reporters that he believes the US is making progress in negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, he refused to disclose details of his dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Trump’s special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, is expected to present policy options for ending the war to the US president in the coming weeks.