Reuters on 25 April published the text of a document allegedly presented by US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff to members of European delegations at a meeting in Paris on 17 April on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.
The agency notes that it is publishing the text without changes. Its authenticity has not been officially confirmed. Earlier, various media outlets, citing sources, reported on a number of points of this plan, the Reuters text confirms their reports.
The text states that it is a “final offer” of the United States to Ukraine and Russia.
Among the conditions proposed by the US are a permanent ceasefire and the start of technical consultations between the parties. The document says that Ukraine will receive security guarantees from “a group of European states and willing non-European countries”. At the same time, Ukraine must refuse to join NATO, but may seek EU membership.
The text also says that the US will de jure recognise Russian control over occupied Crimea. We are talking about recognition by the USA, not Ukraine. At the same time, it does not explain how the USA could recognise Russia’s control over Crimea, which is not recognised by the international community.
The document also says that the USA will de facto recognise Russia’s control over the Luhansk region and parts of the Kherson, Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk regions of Ukraine that are currently under Russian control, while Russia will have to withdraw its troops from the Kharkiv region. Ukraine must also, the document says, regain control of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, but will be guided by the US with the distribution of electricity between both sides. It also says Ukraine should get freedom of navigation on the Dnieper and control over the Kinburn Spit.
The document also talks about lifting sanctions on Russia and ensuring that Ukraine fully recovers and receives financial compensation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that while Ukraine is ready to make concessions, it is not ready to give up territories, including Crimea, de jure. Zelensky’s statement on Crimea displeased US President Donald Trump, who made it clear that he did not think it was possible to return Crimea to Ukrainian control. At the same time, Trump said that Ukraine is not required to recognise Crimea as Russian.
Kiev, however, does not agree with such an approach. According to The Telegraph, a document prepared following a meeting in London this week said that Ukraine objects to other countries recognising Russia’s annexation of Crimea. It also says Ukraine opposes restrictions on its army and military industry. The Reuters document does not raise this topic at all.
It is unclear how Russia feels about the US proposals. Officially, Moscow is still demanding the transfer to it of the entire territory of four regions of Ukraine, the annexation of which it had previously claimed. At the same time, the mass media wrote that Vladimir Putin was ready to give up this demand.
Ukraine, in its turn, says that it agrees to a ceasefire and the start of negotiations without preconditions.
Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on 25 April for talks with Putin. Whether they will be based on the proposals outlined in the published document is unknown.
Representatives of the Trump administration and he himself have repeatedly said that both Russia and Ukraine will have to make concessions. President Volodymyr Zelensky called Kiev’s willingness to negotiate with Moscow a concession.
Trump and members of his administration have also spoken about the possibility of the USA withdrawing from the peace process if the sides do not agree on a ceasefire in the near future.
In an interview with Time magazine published on 25 April, Trump, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine, said that a ceasefire was “possible and quite likely.” He reiterated the thesis that Crimea “will stay with Russia” and suggested that Vladimir Zelensky realises this. Trump also noted that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO. When asked why it was not possible to achieve the end of the war in one day, as Trump said before the election, the US president said that it was an exaggeration, which he went to in order to emphasise the importance of the issue.