FT Europe editor Ben Hall on the points of contention in the peace plan

Donald Trump is pushing a new peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, with a text that many people see as highly favourable to Russia. We're going to look at some of the most contentious points. The first one is about territory. The draft stipulates that Ukrainian forces would withdraw from the remainder of Donetsk province that they currently control. This is probably Ukraine's biggest red line and would be impossible for President Zelenskyy to accept for political and military reasons. The second contentious feature of this text is that there is no detail whatsoever on the security guarantees that Ukraine would receive from the US and its European allies In order to ensure Russia did not attack again. The third contentious point is a limit on the size of Ukraine's armed forces. Kyiv and its European allies are dead against this because the Ukrainian army is the first line of defence for Europe against Russian aggression. Another highly controversial element of the deal, and this is where it gets a little ludicrous, is the idea that $100bn of Russian frozen assets, which are mostly held in Europe, would be put into a Ukraine investment fund from which the US would receive half of the profits. Lastly, the text stipulates a comprehensive non-aggression agreement between Russia, Ukraine and Europe. In theory, this would be a chance to address Russia's concerns about the underlying causes of the war, but it's so vague and in itself could give rise to a lifetime of argument and negotiation.
FT Europe editor Ben Hall on points of contention in the peace plan © Produced by Tom Hannen

The US is leaning heavily on Ukraine to accept within days a new peace plan it has drawn up with Russia and which seems heavily lopsided towards Moscow’s long-standing demands.

The plan, described as a working document liable to change, is loosely worded and sketchy on details while also sweeping in scope. It bears the fingerprints of its amateur diplomat authors, real estate developer turned US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Whether other parts of the US administration were on board is unclear, but President Donald Trump has now given the plan his blessing.

The text crosses many of Ukraine’s long-standing red lines, most importantly the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the rest of Donetsk province, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cannot afford to do on military and political grounds. It also says next to nothing about the security guarantees from the US and its other western allies that Zelenskyy has long demanded as a condition for peace. At the same time, the text does not appear to satisfy all of Russia’s demands, such as addressing the “root causes” of the conflict.

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