US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is holding meetings with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi a couple of proposed plan for ending the conflict in Ukraine.
The unique US-drafted proposal to finish the conflict included many concepts which have beforehand been put ahead and rejected in earlier peace negotiations.
It put stress on Kyiv to cede territory, restrict the dimensions of its army and promise not to be a part of NATO in trade for an finish to the conflict, all long-standing Kremlin calls for as Putin presses ahead along with his maximalist conflict goals.
The US proposal referred to as for Ukraine to give up key territories within the Donbas area of Eastern Ukraine that Russia has illegally annexed however not captured – a longstanding crimson line for Kyiv. That space consists of the “fortress belt” of closely defended Ukrainian cities and cities, that are seen as important for the nation’s safety.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has beforehand rejected Russia’s requires Ukraine to give up the jap Donbas area in trade for some Russian-held elements of the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas.
The European Union additionally laid out three of its crimson traces on Sunday.
First, Ukraine’s “borders cannot be changed by force,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned in an announcement on Sunday, as prime US and European officers held talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Second, as a sovereign nation, there cannot be limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attack and thereby also undermining European security,” von der Leyen added.
“Third, the centrality of the European Union in securing peace for Ukraine must be fully reflected. Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. They have chosen a European destiny,” the EU chief concluded, including that begins with Ukraine’s reconstruction and integration into Europe’s single market and protection industrial base.
NCS’s Svitlana Vlasova, Catherine Nicholls and Kara Fox contributed to this submit.