Trump’s ’24-Hour’ Ukraine Peace Promise Faces Reality as Plan Suggests Recognizing Russian Gains
Donald Trump will allow Vladimir Putin to keep almost all the territory he has seized from Ukraine under the terms of a proposed peace deal.
Putin would be required to freeze the current front line, allowing him to keep most of his gains – though, the country would be required to give up two small areas currently occupied by its troops.
Ukraine would regain unhindered access to the mouth of the Dnieper river and the second area of Kherson province would also require Russian withdrawal.
Officials from the US, Britain, European nations and Ukraine will meet in London today to push for a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, with US envoy General Keith Kellogg hoping to gain Ukraine’s agreement to the plan.
Kellogg will participate in today’s discussion, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended peace talks in Paris last week, is no longer able to join the meeting due to a ‘scheduling issue’.
It was unclear if Rubio’s absence means the US has downgraded its expectations for the talks after Trump said on Sunday he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would make a deal this week to end the three-year-old conflict.
But few diplomats considered that realistic given the significant gaps remaining. The expectations for a breakthrough were slim, despite pressure from Trump to make this a decisive moment.
If all goes well during today’s discussions, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff will present the plan to Putin. Potential obstacles to the proposal include it offering no clear US security guarantee to Ukraine. Putin may also be unwilling to relinquish the area of territory proposed by Trump.
