RUSSIA – Russian President Vladimir Putin warned he is ready for a war with Europe ‘right now’ – as Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived for peace talks in Moscow. Putin said ahead of a meeting with Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff: ‘‘We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now.’’ The Russian leader is meeting with American officials to discuss possible peace plans to end the invasion of Ukraine, nearly four years after he sent troops to try and carve up the country.
He said that European powers were making demands on this settlement for Ukraine that Moscow considers ‘absolutely unacceptable’, adding: ‘They are on the side of war’.Putin also claimed that Europe had locked itself out of negotiations, as they can cut off all contact with Russia following the invasion.
Late last month, Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine was leaked to the media. European allies slammed the document for giving too many concessions to Russia. Trump’s leaked agreement would allow Russia to keep occupied territory in Ukraine – Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk – while also getting Ukrainian land that its soldiers don’t occupy.
The agreement would freeze the front lines of the conflict at the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia, which would allow Russia to effectively hold onto nearby Mariupol and have a direct line into the Crimean Peninsula.
Another key point is that Ukraine would forever be barred from NATO, the military alliance that Russia has long wanted to keep a buffer between. Sanctions on Russia would also be lifted and the country would be ‘reintegrated into the global economy’.
In exchange, Ukraine would receive looser security guarantees from the US and NATO.
Another draft agreement says NATO would treat any attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire ‘transatlantic community’, according to Axios.
Earlier today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Trump had worked out a 20-point plan following negotiations in Florida.
Speaking from Dublin today, he said: ‘‘Some things still need to be worked out.’’
Zelenskyy said the latest document marked ‘one of the most challenging and yet optimistic moments at the same time’ for peace in Ukraine.
‘‘Now more than ever, there is a chance to end this war,’’ the wartime leader said.
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