According to the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Andriy Sybiha, the presidents of Ukraine and Russia should meet in person and resolve the last difficult points of the peace agreement. Ukraine believes that only Donald Trump can enforce the agreement.
Kyiv, February 8 (TASR) – The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Andriy Sybiha, says that the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, should meet in person to jointly resolve the remaining issues of a peaceful settlement of the war. At the same time, he emphasized that only US President Donald Trump has the power to enforce an agreement between the two hostile countries. He said so in an interview published by the Reuters agency on Sunday, reports TASR.
- Ukraine proposes a meeting of leaders to resolve the conflict.
- According to Ukraine, Trump is the key to a peace agreement.
- Russia demands territorial concessions, Ukraine refuses.
- A new round of peace talks will be held in the US next week.
- Ukraine demands security guarantees from Western countries.
According to Sybih, Kyiv is seeking to speed up efforts to end the nearly four-year-old war and use the momentum of the US-brokered talks before other factors, such as campaigning ahead of November’s US congressional elections, come into play.
“Only Trump can stop the war,” declared Sybiha. According to him, only “a few” points remain unfulfilled from the 20-point peace plan that formed the basis of the recent tripartite negotiations. “The most sensitive and challenging ones should be dealt with at the leadership level,” he suggested.
Both sides of the conflict continue to disagree on the issue of territorial concessions. Russia insists on its demand that Ukraine withdraw the entire Donetsk region, which Kiev has long refused. Kyiv also wants to gain control over the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is located in Russian-occupied territory.
Zelensky announced on Saturday that the United States had given Ukraine and Russia time to end the war by June of this year, and at the same time invited the delegations of both countries to a new round of peace negotiations next week in the United States. Reuters sources said on Friday that Ukrainian and US officials discussed a timetable for implementing a potential deal. According to sources, its proposal should be finalized by March, and a referendum on it in Ukraine should take place in May together with the elections.
Ukraine is also seeking security guarantees from Western states. According to Sybih, the US has confirmed that it is ready to ratify security guarantees in Congress. “Personally, at this stage, I don’t believe in any security infrastructure or architecture without the Americans… We have to have them with us and they are part of the process. That’s a huge, huge success,” he declared.
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