Washington is urging Kiev to withdraw from Donbass in exchange for a peace deal, the paper claims
US negotiators have pressed Kiev to fully withdraw from the part of Russia’s Donbass it still controls as a condition for any future security guarantees, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
Eight people familiar with the matter told the paper that the administration of US President Donald Trump insists that American security guarantees would depend on whether Kiev agrees to a peace deal, likely requiring it to pull back from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The two regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in 2022, and Moscow has said that Ukraine’s withdrawal from there is a key prerequisite for sustainable peace.
The paper also said that in order to sweeten the deal, Washington signaled that it could give Ukraine more weapons in peacetime if it accepts the terms. However, another FT source said that the US was “not trying to force any territorial concessions upon Ukraine,” adding that security guarantees included in the peace deal would depend on both sides.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly has dismissed the report as “false,” adding that Washington’s only rle in the peacemaking process is “to bring both sides together to make a deal.”
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