KYIV
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says proposals being negotiated with US officials for a peace deal to end his country\u2019s nearly four-year war with Russia could be finalized within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before further possible meetings in the United States next weekend.
\nZelensky told reporters late Monday that a draft peace plan discussed with the US during talks in Berlin earlier in the day is \u201cvery workable.\u201d He cautioned, however, that some key issues \u2014 notably what happens to Ukrainian territory occupied by invading Russian forces \u2014 remain unresolved.
\nU.S-led peace efforts appear to be picking up momentum. But Russian President Vladimir Putin may balk at some of the proposals thrashed out by officials from Washington, Kyiv and Western Europe, including postwar security guarantees for Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Tuesday that Russia wants a comprehensive peace deal, not a temporary truce.
\nIf Ukraine seeks \u201cmomentary, unsustainable solutions, we are unlikely to be ready to participate,\u201d Peskov said.
\n\u201cWe want peace \u2014 we don\u2019t want a truce that would give Ukraine a respite and prepare for the continuation of the war,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe want to stop this war, achieve our goals, secure our interests, and guarantee peace in Europe for the future.\u201d
\nAmerican officials on Monday said that there\u2019s consensus from Ukraine and Europe on about 90 percent of the US-authored peace plan. US President Donald Trump said: \u201cI think we\u2019re closer now than we have been, ever\u201d to a peace settlement.
\nPlenty of potential pitfalls remain, however.
\nZelensky reiterated that Kyiv rules out recognizing Moscow\u2019s control over any part of the Donbas, an economically important region in eastern Ukraine made up of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia\u2019s army doesn\u2019t fully control either.
\n\u201cThe Americans are trying to find a compromise,\u201d Zelensky said, before visiting the Netherlands on Tuesday. \u201cThey are proposing a \u2018free economic zone\u2019 (in the Donbas). And I want to stress once again: a \u2018free economic zone\u2019 does not mean under the control of the Russian Federation.\u201d
\nThe land issue remains one of the most difficult obstacles to a comprehensive agreement.
\nPutin wants all the areas in four key regions that his forces have seized, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory.
\nZelensky warned that if Putin rejects diplomatic efforts, Ukraine expects increased Western pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and additional military support for defense. Kyiv would seek enhanced air defense systems and long-range weapons if diplomacy collapses, he said.
\nUkraine and the US are preparing up to five documents related to the peace framework, several of them focused on security, Zelensky said.
\nHe was upbeat about the progress in the Berlin talks.
\n\u201cOverall, there was a demonstration of unity,\u201d Zelensky said. \u201cIt was truly positive in the sense that it reflected the unity of the US, Europe, and Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says proposals being negotiated with US officials for a peace deal to end his country\u2019s nearly four-year war with Russia could be finalized within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before further possible meetings in the United States next weekend. Zelensky told reporters late Monday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-520445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n