Trump's proposals for Kyiv to end war include recognition of occupied Crimea and neutral zone around Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant – WSJ

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the United States is awaiting a response from Kyiv, particularly regarding the recognition of Crimea as Russian and Ukraine's refusal to join NATO. Furthermore, the US has been considering the idea of a neutral zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Source: The Wall Street Journal, citing sources

Quote from WSJ: "Ukraine is under pressure to respond this week to a series of far-reaching Trump administration ideas for how to end the war in Ukraine by granting concessions to Russia, including potential US recognition of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and excluding Kyiv from joining NATO."

Details: WSJ stated that, according to Western officials, these ideas had been laid out in a confidential document presented by senior officials of President Donald Trump's administration to their Ukrainian counterparts in Paris on Thursday 17 April. These ideas were also shared with senior European officials at a daytime meeting. Quote from WSJ: "The US is now waiting for Kyiv's response, which is expected to come at a meeting of US, Ukrainian and European officials in London later this week.

Then if there is a convergence among the American, European and Ukrainian positions, the proposals could be floated to Moscow." Details: To pressure both Ukraine and Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Friday 18 April that the administration might suspend its negotiation efforts if no progress is made on key issues over the next few weeks.

Quote from WSJ: "The US diplomatic push is intended to set the stage for a cease-fire, which would be broadly along current battle lines, and an eventual settlement.  Accepting some of the Trump administration's ideas could prove difficult for Kyiv since Ukraine has refused to accept that Russia has a legal claim to any of its territory."

Details: On Sunday 20 April, a senior US State Department official referred to the ideas presented to the Ukrainians as options for Kyiv to consider, rather than "weigh and not a take-it-or-leave-it". The official said that the "list of potential options" had been provided "for discussion and feedback". WSJ noted that the US recognition of Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 would overturn more than a decade of American policy under both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who worked under the first Trump administration, condemned Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2018 as a threat to "a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another by force". The US Congress passed a law opposing the recognition of Russia's occupation of Crimea. Another idea from the US, according to Western officials, involves declaring the territory around the ZNPP as neutral territory, which could be under US control.

During a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March, Trump raised the issue of purchasing Ukrainian power plants, including nuclear facilities, calling it the "best protection for that infrastructure". WSJ suggested that the ZNPP is likely to supply electricity both to Ukrainian territory and to the temporarily occupied oblasts that Russia captured after the full-scale invasion and still holds. Background:

• On 11 April, Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East, met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in St.

  Petersburg, where they discussed a potential path to resolving the situation in Ukraine.

  According to Russian propaganda media outlets, the conversation lasted 4.5 hours.

• On 17 April, a meeting was held in Paris between the Ukrainian delegation and representatives from France, Germany and the UK, during which the full cessation of hostilities, a multinational contingent and security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed.
• An American delegation, led by Rubio and Witkoff also arrived in Paris to take part in the talks.
• On 18 April, Rubio stated that it is necessary to determine in "a matter of days" whether peace in Ukraine is possible, emphasising that the United States has other priorities and that it is ready to abandon efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine if in the coming days it becomes clear that no progress is being made.
• The New York Post reported that a decision on a ceasefire could be made in London on 21 April.

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