“The involvement of the Europeans, in terms of acceptability [of the agreement by Moscow], is not a good sign,” stated Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as quoted by the France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
Peskov said that Moscow must “first become aware” of what was discussed during recent negotiations between Ukrainians and Americans before organizing a new meeting between the United States and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in negotiations on Sunday and Monday in Berlin with American and European representatives regarding the plan of U.S. President Donald Trump to end the Russian war against Ukraine.
The details of the U.S. plan, having been reworked with the Ukrainians, are not known, but Zelensky indicated it involved territorial concessions rejected by Kyiv. The original document from Washington was viewed by Kyiv and Europeans as being largely favorable to Kremlin positions.
The Europeans proposed a parallel plan involving the deployment of a multinational force in Ukraine, similar guarantees of assistance to Kyiv in the event of another Russian attack, and a Ukrainian army of 800,000 personnel. Russia previously deemed such conditions unacceptable.
A European diplomatic source in Kyiv told AFP today that the current challenge for the European Union (EU) is to “disengage the United States from Russian positions.” Kremlin international policy advisor Yuri Ushakov also expressed skepticism today about any changes that may have been made to Trump’s initial plan, which had been well received in Moscow.
“I don’t know what will result on paper after these consultations. But it will hardly be anything good,” Ushakov commented, according to the Spanish news agency EFE. Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained a rigid stance and is now awaiting the return to the Kremlin of U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Trump’s plan aims to end the war that Russia initiated in February 2022 when it invaded Ukraine.
