The U.S. administration’s framework — which got here with an aggressive Thanksgiving deadline and threats to chop off support and intelligence to Ukraine except it accepted — caught Ukraine and its European allies off guard, setting off a weekend of pressing negotiations in Geneva amongst Washington, Kyiv and European companions.
Putin spoke by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan concerning the plan on Monday, and, based on the Kremlin, mentioned that Trump’s first proposal was a “good base for the long run deal.”
“Vladimir Putin famous that these proposals, within the model we now have seen, are according to the discussions on the Russian-American summit in Alaska and, in precept, might be the premise of a remaining peaceable settlement,” the Kremlin mentioned in its readout of the decision.
The hole between the 2 sides’ most well-liked endgames stays huge, and largely incompatible. Moscow is pushing for a settlement that locks in and expands its territorial positive aspects, whereas Kyiv and European capitals insist on securing Ukraine’s sovereignty.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the discussions in Switzerland as main progress, whereas noting there was “nonetheless some work to be completed” earlier than finalizing a proposal.
Trump, who criticized Kyiv on Sunday for exhibiting “zero gratitude,” nonetheless struck an optimistic tone concerning the Swiss talks. “One thing good simply could also be occurring,” he wrote in a social media submit Monday.
