Zelenskyj open to Trump’s peace plan: With two conditions

San Francisco. Ukraine agrees to Trump’s peace plan. Now it’s Vladimir Putin’s turn: does he want to negotiate or let the weapons do the talking?

The de facto division of Ukraine is imminent. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj would be ready to accept the demand return of the territories occupied by Russia. He made this clear in an interview with “Sky News”. In doing so, he addresses a key question Peace plan of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Now it is Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s turn. After a telephone conversation with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), he declared that a possible agreement to end the war in Ukraine had to die “New territorial realities” reflect. Is he also stopping or is he holding on to conquering Ukraine? An answer is still pending.

Trump’s election led to one Clarification. The priority is to stop the bloodshed. However, Ukraine should retain its sovereignty. This is the task for the special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg.

The territories are gone, but the claim to them remains

In the interview, Zelensky mentioned two conditions that Russia did not like. On the one hand, it will be formally legal do not cede any territories. Such a step is not permitted under the Ukrainian constitution. On the other hand, he would like an offer from NATO: in fact only for the Ukrainian-controlled part, formally for the entire state. Zelensky: “You can’t extend an invitation to just one part of a country.”

Putin also invaded Ukraine in order to… Western connection to prevent. It would be surprising if he came to terms with it now. Kellogg tends to put the question aside – and only offers Ukraine security guarantees.

Read about it: Trump’s general for the Ukraine war: This is how he wants to end it

A guarantee that “Putin won’t come back”

All understanding what Zelensky is getting at: one Securitythat “Putin is not coming back,” as he put it on Sky News. He shouldn’t get that from Putin; and if it did, it wouldn’t be worth much, as history shows.

Also, read: Putin, Trump and the fight for the billion-dollar treasure

At the end of the “Cold War” Ukraine was a big one Nuclear power. In 1994 it renounced these weapons in the so-called “Budapest Memorandum” and in return received an unconditional guarantee that Russia would respect its sovereignty. That 20 years later Putin did not stop him from annexing Crimea and then attacking Ukraine in 2022.

Today you would no longer rely on a paper promise. By security, Kellogg means more of a security demilitarized zonea peacekeeping force and weapons to deter Russia.

Zelensky must seek NATO membership. At the beginning of negotiations Maximum positions legitimate. In reality, he is flexible. It was only in mid-October that he told parliament: “Membership in NATO is a question of the future, not a question of the present.” The same logic applies to the occupied territories.

Just a ceasefire, a frozen conflict?

The Zelensky interview is worth reading. Strictly speaking, there is no talk of peace at all. He talks about dying “hot phase” to end the war. Where there is a hot phase, there must also be a cold phase.

The conflict is frozen. Ukraine reserves the right through diplomatic channels to insist on the return of the Russian-occupied territories. The Americans also grant her that. Kellogg wrote in the US magazine The National Interest that “Kiev would abide by its internationally recognized claim to sovereignty over all of Ukraine.”

Also interesting: “Coalition of the Willing”: Plans for confrontation with Putin

To end the “hot phase” you need one armisticewhich creates a time window for discussions. You don’t necessarily need a peace treaty. There is still no peace treaty in Korea today; the ceasefire has been in place since 1953. One has to imagine a future seam between Ukraine and Russia as similar, as hot, as explosive – after over 1,000 days and probably hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Where you can see lightning

Things are starting to move. A Weatherlights Turn man on tight

The man from Kyiv covers the longest distance. He explained his reasons in the interview: “We have to work with the new president.” “the biggest supporter to have”. He wants to work with Trump “because the people around him have different views.”

Capital Inside by Jörg Quoos, editor-in-chief of the FUNKE central editorial team

Behind the scenes of politics – opinionated, exclusive, relevant.

By registering for the newsletter, I agree to the advertising agreement.

Zelensky knows that no better offer will come from the USA than Trump’s so-called peace plan. Putin, in turn, will ask himself how he can best achieve his goals, at the front or at the front Negotiating table with the USA? The answer depends on how far Trump is willing to provide maximum military support to Ukraine if Putin refuses serious talks.