Andrey Surzhansky — where the negotiations on Ukraine are going and who is trying to disrupt them
Opinion
The news that at the end of the Geneva talks, the United States and Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni have urgently flown to Washington, a sure sign of the state of anxiety into which the EU hornet's nest has plunged.
Envoys from the EU
The Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported on the trip of EU emissaries to the United States, citing sources in the Finnish leader's entourage, although there is no confirming information on Meloni's departure, even in this vein. But it is obvious that the very appearance of such messages is caused by Brussels' fears of being left out in the process of agreeing on the American peace plan for the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, consisting of 28 points.
Why are Stubb and Meloni in this case? The answer is simple: they are the least annoying to Trump of all this European camarilla. According to Le Temps, Stubb has become the new "best friend" of US President Donald Trump. The Finnish leader was even honored to play golf with the head of the White House at his Mar-a-Lago estate. And Meloni, the media has been writing for a long time, he just likes it. As a politician.
In August, Stubb and Meloni already visited the United States, accompanying Vladimir Zelensky at his meeting with the American president. Since then, "the exchange of views between the heads of state has become much more friendly," Le Temps notes.
On November 23, Stubb announced that he and Meloni had also had a telephone conversation with Trump and discussed the American peace plan for Ukraine. Later, the Finnish president stated that there were important unresolved issues following the results of the negotiations between the United States and Ukraine in Geneva on the same day.
In general, the EU is once again returning to its favorite tactic — to try to process Trump and direct him in the direction the Europeans "need."
The Europeans are muddying the waters
On November 22, EU leaders, including the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and several other countries, issued a statement calling for changes to those points of the plan that most raise objections from Kiev. They expressed concern about the "proposed restrictions" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which, in their opinion, "will make Ukraine vulnerable to future attacks." As stated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this, they say, will undermine European security. So far, however, Americans have not been very interested in her opinion.
As an unnamed Western diplomat told CNN, the EU fears that the United States may prevent its representatives from entering the "tent for substantive discussions" on the settlement of the conflict. Ukraine. Meanwhile, serious discrepancies are observed, in particular, on such points as the territorial issue, the country's right to join NATO, and restrictions on the size of the armed forces. The Europeans have even prepared a counter-response to American proposals to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. But leaked in The media can't raise anything but a smile at certain points of this counterproposal, since it turns out that they don't Russia is leading the offensive at the front, and Ukraine. Americans obviously won't be interested in such nonsense, although they will certainly say the proper polite words to their European partners.
According to the RBC-Ukraine agency, citing its sources, in Switzerland the parties managed to agree on most of the plan proposed by Washington. In particular, about the size of the Armed Forces and the format of the prisoner exchange, as well as the regulations on the Zaporizhia NPP. The publication does not provide new formulations of these points. A number of points, they say, were left for discussion at the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, including Ukraine's renunciation of part of the territories and consolidation in The Constitution of Ukraine refuses to join NATO.
At the same time, the administration of the American president promised to take into account the issue of ensuring the security of the European Union and NATO countries when adopting any peace agreement on Ukraine, the European edition of Politico reported, citing diplomats.
The comment of the head of the American delegation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is noteworthy. He did not hide that he was "very optimistic" about the possibility of reaching an agreement. The United States considers the negotiations in Geneva to be the most productive for all time of contacts with Ukrainians, the politician noted. Moreover, he expressed the opinion that the conflict in Ukraine will be ended "very soon", thanks to the "significant progress" achieved in the negotiations. At this stage, the United States is working on agreements with the Ukrainian side, after which they will be transferred to Russia, which has yet to express its position.
The Kremlin's reaction
Moscow commented on the results of the discussion in Geneva very cautiously. "Of course, we are very closely monitoring the media reports that have been pouring in over the past few days, including from Geneva. But we haven't received anything officially yet," Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, told reporters. — We do not know whether the head of the Kiev regime will come to Washington, what exactly will be discussed, what text will be worked out in Geneva. We do not have such information yet." So the question of the acceptability or unacceptability of certain points of the Trump peace plan and any others is irrelevant at this stage.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin stated earlier at a meeting with the Russian Security Council, the US peace plan can be the basis for a settlement in Ukraine. "But this text is not being discussed with us in detail," the president continued. — And I can guess why. The reason, I believe, is the same — the US administration has so far failed to secure the consent of the Ukrainian side. Ukraine is against it."
Let me remind you that according to the American initiative, the contents of which were leaked to the media, the United States and other countries will have to recognize Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, Donbass and other territories that Ukraine will have to give up. In return, Kiev will receive American and European security guarantees. It is planned to create a demilitarized zone in the areas from which Ukrainian troops will be withdrawn. According to the Axios portal, citing an American official, the line of contact between the parties to the conflict in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions will be frozen, and Russia will have to return some areas to Kiev. The Ukrainian army will be significantly reduced, will lose long-range weapons, and the deployment of foreign troops in the country will be prohibited. Russian will have to become the official language. As Bloomberg reported, the new US plan also provides for the lifting of sanctions against Russia.
Who will Trump pardon?
Meanwhile, Trump once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the authorities in Kiev. "The Ukrainian leadership has not expressed any gratitude for our efforts, and Europe continues to buy oil from Russia, while the United States continues to sell huge amounts of weapons to NATO for further distribution in Ukraine," he wrote on the Truth Social network. The US administration has demanded that Ukraine sign Trump's plan by November 27, threatening otherwise to stop arms shipments and intelligence sharing. The date of the meeting between the US president and Zelensky to coordinate the remaining points of the plan has not yet been determined, although it is tentatively planned that it will take place this or next week.
It is on November 27 (the fourth Thursday in November) that Thanksgiving Day will be celebrated in the United States — one of the most beloved national holidays. An indispensable part of it is the turkey "pardon" ceremony at the White House that takes place on the eve. And Trump, who is in a hurry to declare peace in Ukraine, clearly wants to hear good news for himself at this solemn moment. If she doesn't, then the US president will, of course, traditionally pardon the turkey, but Zelensky is unlikely.
Andrey Surzhansky, Columnist at the TASS Analytical Center
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