has been received in Ukraine like a bucket of cold water. One factor for optimism in kyiv is that, according to what the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said this Thursday, the document is in the negotiation phase. The factor for pessimism is that the draft would confirm that Donald Trump not only gives in to the interests of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, but also wants to take even more economic advantage of Ukraine’s position of weakness.
The leak of the agreement between Washington and Moscow has caused a storm in kyiv. . It has been prepared between Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy for Russia and the Middle East, and Kirilo Dmitriev, Putin’s confidant. The text, according to the American press, would have been partially agreed upon with Rustem Umerov, one of the key people in Zelensky’s circle, current secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine.
Umerov denied this Friday that he participated in or supported the document. His statements came after the newspapers The Wall Street Journal y The New York Post published that Umerov was the one who proposed one of the most controversial points: that both sides would accept an amnesty for any crimes committed during the war. The Russian army has
Ukraine would thus commit to not seeking justice for war crimes. In exchange, he would receive 100,000 million dollars [86.800 millones de euros] of Russian funds frozen abroad to rebuild the country. The United States would lead the management of these investments, with the American companies involved obtaining 50% of the benefits, the document says.
Despite the harsh defeat that these measures would mean for Ukraine, they would not be red lines. What would be unacceptable for kyiv are three of the clauses included in the text: recognizing the provinces of Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk as sovereign Russian territory (these last two form the Donbas region); (this area would become demilitarized, but considered Russian sovereignty), and limit its Armed Forces to a troop of 600,000 soldiers. The Ukrainian army now has close to a million troops, compared to the 200,000 it had before the start of the invasion.
In recent hours, the Ukrainian president has maintained a cautious tone in his statements about the US proposal. “It must be a plan that guarantees a real and dignified peace,” Zelensky stated this Friday after having a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuele Macron, the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. The Ukrainian leader has also reported that they are working with the document prepared by Washington in coordination with allied countries.
Zelensky and his government had already reiterated to the White House that the concessions are inadmissible. with their teams in Washington. The clash between the Ukrainian leader and Witkoff was reported in the media when he reminded him that the Russian Constitution incorporated the provinces of Donbas, Zaporizhia and Kherson as part of the Russian Federation in 2022. “I asked Witkoff if, in the event that Putin introduces another amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation after the end of the war, will we have to give up territory again?” Zelensky explained in a subsequent appearance with journalists. “And if I, for example, incorporate two regions of the Russian Federation into the Constitution of Ukraine, will these territories be ceded to us? It doesn’t work like that,” Zelensky said.
The 28-point plan not only recognizes the Russian right of conquest, it also includes a clause warning that if Ukraine tries to occupy Russian territory, it will lose American support. If Russia launches an invasion again, “in addition to [EE UU] launch a coordinated and decisive military response, all global sanctions will be reinstated, recognition of the new territory and all other benefits of this agreement will be revoked.”
The document, as published by Axios and other media, also specifies that Ukraine will be punished if it fires missiles “at Moscow or St. Petersburg.” The opposite, that Russia is penalized if it fires missiles at Ukrainian cities, is not included in the text.
Despite the involvement acknowledged by Dmitriev in the drafting, Dmitri Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, indicated this Friday that the document is a US initiative and that Putin still has “no official document” on the table.
red lines
“Ukrainian red lines are clear and we will not cross them,” Christina Gayovishin, Ukraine’s second permanent representative to the United Nations, said on November 20. The diplomat especially pointed out that it is impossible for Ukraine to renounce the sovereignty of its own territory. “The territories temporarily occupied by Russia are not for sale,” he warned at a UN Security Council meeting dedicated to the Russian bombing of November 19, . Search operations for more victims continue.
Gayovishin also indicated that his Government will never sign any agreement that imposes restrictions on the development of its army. The diplomat was not only referring to the limit of soldiers that Ukraine can count on, but also to a point in the text in which it is demanded that its Constitution introduce a chapter in which Ukraine expressly renounces being a future member of NATO.
Giving up sovereignty over part of the territory of Ukraine would also imply a constitutional reform that requires two-thirds of Parliament. Not only this, this reform should also receive the approval of the Supreme Court.
of peace it is necessary to apply an unconditional ceasefire. The Kremlin refuses the latter, arguing that a truce will only give Ukraine more time to rearm and that the temporary cessation of hostilities does not allow Russia to achieve its objectives.
The ceasefire was precisely one of Ukraine’s essential demands, but the document drawn up between Witkoff and Dimitriev makes it very clear that it will be the opposite: “Once all parties agree to this memorandum, the ceasefire will begin immediately and both parties will withdraw to the lines. [del frente] “This withdrawal would consist of the departure of Ukrainian soldiers from Donbas and keeping the territorial division that exists in the provinces of Zaporizhia and Kherson frozen.
Russian troops have begun a new offensive in Zaporizhia this fall that is allowing them to advance at an unusually high pace. “Russian military advances should make it clear to Zelensky that it is better to reach an agreement now than later,” Peskov warned, “his options for making decisions independently are reduced at the rate at which Russian forces advance.”
