Ukraine rejects giving up Donbas and NATO membership in updated peace plan - NYT
Illustrative photo: Ukraine partially rejected Trump's demands (facebook.com)
In the updated US peace plan submitted by Ukraine to Washington, Kyiv rejected the demand to cede the Donbas to the Russian regime and refused to give up its bid for NATO membership, reports The New York Times.
The NYT notes that the updated document, prepared by Ukraine, contains 20 points. It removed most elements that were unacceptable to Kyiv and openly aligned with Russian interests, potentially making the plan unacceptable to the Kremlin.
Ukraine is demanding legal guarantees to protect against future Russian aggression. In particular, it proposes that these guarantees be approved by the US Congress to make them legally binding for any American president. Having learned lessons from the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine does not intend to take US assurances "at face value."
Kyiv also refuses to comply with demands from President Donald Trump, who recently said Ukraine should give up some of its territories. European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy argue that conceding territory would simply reward the Russian regime for its aggression.
"The proposal removed parts of Mr. Trump's original plan that crossed Ukrainian red lines... Ukraine should retain control of areas in eastern Ukraine that the Trump plan had said it should cede," the NYT writes.
Another major change is that Ukraine rejects the US demand to forgo NATO membership. This potentially makes Ukraine's plan unacceptable for Russia, which not only wants to occupy as much Ukrainian territory as possible but also aims to prevent Kyiv from joining the Alliance.
Further negotiations, including discussions on Ukraine's version of the US peace plan, are expected to continue on Monday, December 15.
US peace plan
The initial US peace plan, consisting of 28 points and largely reflecting Russian positions, was unacceptable to Ukraine and its European partners. After consultations, the document was reduced to 20 points and revised to make it more acceptable to Kyiv.
Recently, Kyiv submitted its response to the updated plan, proposing additional ideas to resolve disputed issues. The document was prepared jointly with European partners, but a final version has not yet been completed. The "sticking points" remain territory, NATO membership, and security guarantees.
According to media reports, the Trump administration is prepared to offer Ukraine legally binding security guarantees based on NATO Article 5. However, this has not been officially confirmed. Some reports suggest that in draft peace agreements, Americans use the term "assurances" instead of "guarantees," effectively reducing security guarantees to a paper promise similar to the Budapest Memorandum.
Europe, for its part, is concerned that Russia could use a new peace agreement on ending the war in Ukraine as a "springboard" for renewed incursions into Donbas.
