Washington, Moscow and Europe are all generating conflicting ceasefire proposals this month, with two proposals coming out last week.
US President Donald Trump’s administration presented the proposal to Ukraine on April 17, stating it was a “final offer from the United States.”
Ukraine rebutted it on April 23rd with its own proposal. This was supported by European authorities, but it is said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stepped out of the meeting to discuss it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a three-day unilateral ceasefire on Monday to commemorate his victory day on May 9th, commemorating Russia’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II.
Ukrainian President Voldymiazelensky dismissed Putin’s proposal as “another attempt at manipulation,” saying, “for some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before stopping the fire.
Trump appeared to be the most violent opponent of Kiev, but his proposal, revealed by Reuters, made important concessions against Europeans.
Trump had acknowledged the legal rights of Russia in Crimea and the de facto ownership of the four states it partially conquered – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zapolizia and Herson.
Russia seized the Crimea in January 2014, and then began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Divisions on Sanctions, Weapons and NATO Membership
Trump’s plans also did not provide US security assurances to postwar Ukraine, leaving them “ad hoc groups of European countries and ad hoc groups of non-European countries.”
Ukrainian and European protesters proposed leaving all territorial negotiations until after the ceasefire, saying the US should be included in the guaranteed country.
There were other areas of disagreement.
The US accepts Russia’s demand that Ukraine should not enter NATO, and Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted immediately.
The European-Ukraine counterproposal said sanctions could be gradually eased once sustainable peace is achieved and resumed in the event of a violation of the peace agreement.
It also stipulated that “there are no restrictions on the Ukrainian Defence Force” and that “there are no restrictions on the existence, weapons or operations of friendly foreign troops on Ukrainian territory.”
Russian officials have repeatedly rejected both of these ideas, saying they will never accept the Ukrainian soil of Europe and therefore NATO, and that Ukraine must return its own military to token power.
The EU’s outlook is fundamentally different from the Trump administration.
“If you want to stop the killing, you should put pressure on Russia for actually killing it,” European Commission vice president Kaja Karas told journalists on April 16.
In contrast, Trump stopped all military cooperation with Ukraine in the first week of March, promoting Kiev and sought peace. It was this week that Russian forces ousted Ukrainian troops from most of the land they occupied in Russia’s Kursk region.
According to the Washington Post, Ukrainian defense and foreign ministers failed to meet with their British and French counterparts when they presented a peace plan in London on April 23.
Russia attacks Kiev
Putin launched a massive attack on Kiev the day after the proposal was made, killing 12 civilians and wounding dozens.
“While claiming it was seeking peace, Russia launched a deadly air attack on Kiev. This is not a pursuit of peace, it makes me laugh. The real obstacle is not Ukraine, and the purpose of the Russian war has not changed,” declared Karas.
“I’m not satisfied with the Russian strike against Kiev. It’s not necessary, it’s very bad timing,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social in a rare display of impatientity for Putin.
Two days later, after meeting with Zelensky on the sidelines at Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome, he threatened Putin with sanctions.
“There has been no reason for Putin to fire missiles in civilian regions, cities or towns over the past few days,” he wrote. “Maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just bashing me and I’m coming to think I have to deal with it differently through “banks” or “secondary sanctions.” ”
“The Vatican and Rome meetings confirmed that our partners understood what was going on,” Zelensky said, referring to what he said as a Russian deception.
Meanwhile, Putin’s forces claimed to have completely driven Ukraine out of Kursk on Saturday, creating “conditions for further successful actions by the Russian army.”
Officials from Russia and North Korea praised the North Korean military’s military assistance provided in Kursk.
Russian military official Valerie Gerasimov said on Saturday that North Korea provided “important support.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised last year’s South Korea Strategic Cooperation Agreement in Northern Russia for being very effective, saying that Russia is willing to return and travel with military aid when necessary.
North Korea’s Central Military Commission also officially confirmed the cooperation for the first time on Monday, with state leader Kim Jong saying Operation Kursk is a “sacred mission to further strengthen strong friendship and solidarity” between Russia and North Korea.
If anything, Russia’s actions and statements suggest that Moscow is claiming itself along the border between the European Union and NATO.
“In the past year, the troops of NATO countries deployed near Russia’s western boundary have increased by nearly 2.5 times,” former defense minister Sergei Shog told the state-run Russian news agency TASS in an interview last week, complaining in particular about the revitalization of Poland and the Baltic countries.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia has expanded its troops along its border with Finland, stockpiling new tanks, citing western military personnel and intelligence agency.
