Kiev has said it wants post-conflict assurances before signing any agreements<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told EU officials that Washington wants Ukraine to sign a peace deal before it agrees to any security guarantees, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
\nKiev has been seeking formal security assurances from its Western sponsors, and insists they should come before a peace agreement. Moscow has said it does not oppose security guarantees in principle, but insists they must not be one-sided or aimed at containing Russia, and should come after a peace deal, not before.
\nAccording to Politico, Rubio told EU officials that the US views security guarantees for Ukraine as a priority, but as a separate issue from other parts of a peace deal. He reportedly signaled that US President Donald Trump will discuss the guarantees with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky after Kiev approves the US peace plan proposed last week.
\nAccording to leaked versions, the 28-point plan\u00a0requires Kiev to abandon several long-standing \u201cred lines,\u201d including renouncing NATO membership, recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea and the Donbass republics, and capping its army at 600,000 troops.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Putin aide confirms upcoming visit by US negotiators<\/p>\n
Caught off guard by the US draft \u2013 which Kiev and its Western European backers viewed as favoring Moscow \u2013 they scrambled to prepare a counter-proposal, with key issues such as territorial concessions, Ukraine\u2019s NATO bid, and the size of the Ukrainian army reportedly removed or amended. The counter-proposal reportedly includes security guarantees for Ukraine modeled on NATO\u2019s Article 5 collective-defense clause, committing guarantor states to defend Ukraine against potential aggression.
\nZelensky has since said he wants to meet with Trump to discuss the plan further, insisting\u00a0that his European backers be present for the talks. Trump has said he will meet with Zelensky when the peace deal is \u201cin its final stages.\u201d
\nMoscow largely welcomed Trump\u2019s peace proposal, saying it could serve as the basis for a final settlement, but accused Kiev\u2019s European backers of trying to undermine peace efforts and distort the plan \u201cfor their own agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Will Trump cave to Zelensky and sink his own peace deal?<\/p>\n
Russia has said it is ready to discuss the US proposals. US special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kiev has said it wants post-conflict assurances before signing any agreements US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told EU officials that Washington wants Ukraine to sign a peace deal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t