The administration of US President Donald Trump has made it clear to Ukraine that security guarantees from Washington will depend on whether Kiev agrees to a peace agreement, which will likely include the transfer of Donbas to Russia, the "Financial Times" newspaper reports, citing eight sources.
Two of them specify that Washington has promised Kiev additional supplies of weapons for peacetime support if Ukraine fulfills the condition.
"Financial Times" recalls that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had hoped to sign documents with the US on security guarantees and a post-war "prosperity plan" as early as this month, which would give Kiev leverage in further negotiations with Moscow. But Washington has made it clear that US security commitments will depend on Kiev reaching an agreement with Russia.
A senior Ukrainian official said it was unclear whether the US would make any specific commitments. "They stop every time security guarantees can be signed," he told the publication. And Ukraine wants confirmation before giving up some of its territory.
White House denies
Meanwhile, the White House press office denied the allegations in the article. "This is absolutely not true - the only role of the US in the peace process is to persuade the two sides to reach a deal," said press secretary Anna Kelly. She also said that the Financial Times maliciously and anonymously spreads lies to disrupt the peace process.
Another source familiar with the US position, for his part, says that Washington "is not trying to force territorial concessions on Ukraine" . "The US has said that security guarantees depend on the two sides agreeing to a peace deal, but its content depends on Russia and Ukraine."
Trump wants the peace treaty to be concluded by May 15
The US administration is striving for the peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia to be concluded no later than May, because from the summer onwards its attention will be focused on domestic politics against the backdrop of the new election cycle, said in the meantime a deputy in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Oleksiy Goncharenko. He also named a specific date - by May 15.
According to Goncharenko, midterm elections for Congress are planned for November 3 in the US, and if Trump fails to show results by May to end the war, this will be more of a minus than a plus for him. May is considered in the US as an informal deadline for concluding a deal between Russia and Ukraine, after which the American side may withdraw from the negotiation process, Goncharenko added. "The Ukrainian process will not disappear, but will recede into the background."
The publication "The Moskow Times" reminds that it was Alexei Goncharenko who was the first to publish the contents of the US peace plan for Ukraine, which included 28 points.
Author: Ekaterina Venkina