US allies concerned about Trump's "peace plan" with territorial concessions to Russia – CNN

CNN has reported, with reference to its sources, that US allies are concerned about Donald Trump's peace plan for Ukraine, which includes territorial concessions, including Crimea, to Russia.

Source: CNN

Details: CNN quoted an unnamed official as saying that the administration's concept, presented in Paris last week, calls for significant sacrifices by Kyiv, including the US recognising Crimea as Russian territory and Ukraine ceding large swathes of territory to Russia.

Asked what concessions Russia was offering, Trump said that not "taking the whole country" was "a pretty big concession".

CNN writes that many diplomats from NATO member states said they were concerned about what the Trump administration was proposing because they believed it would send a dangerous signal to Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, including Xi Jinping, that illegal takeovers will be rewarded.

"This is about the fundamental principles of international law. This is very much about our own existence and the weakening of any safeguards that my or other countries have for our own independence," an Eastern European diplomat told CNN.

"If one country in Europe is currently under pressure or being forced to give up parts of its own legal territory, territory that has been recognised as part of Ukraine … if one country in Europe is forced to do that, no country in Europe or elsewhere can feel safe, NATO or no NATO," the diplomat said.

CNN noted that a proposal to de facto recognise Crimea as part of Russia would overturn longstanding US policy that has maintained that, despite Russian occupation, Crimea is Ukrainian territory. European officials say they would not go down this path, leaving the US isolated.

According to CNN, Asian allies are also growing increasingly concerned that a deal to end the war that would reward Russia after the deadly conflict could be struck.

In private conversations with their US counterparts, Asian diplomats have made clear their concerns about the global implications of a settlement that violates Ukraine's borders. "China is watching. We have told the Trump administration that. We are worried about the message they might take away from any end to the war that appears to reward Russia for the bloodshed," said one Asian diplomat.

Now, CNN writes, all eyes are on Special Envoy Steve Witkoff's expected meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday, which comes after sources said progress was made in talks with European, Ukrainian and American officials in London on Wednesday.

However, many Europeans fear that progress may not be fast enough to satisfy Trump's ambition to end the war quickly.

Asked how flexible the Ukrainians are on territorial issues, an unnamed German official told CNN that they understand the situation, although they have red lines that they cannot cross.

A second European official said the UK government was working with the Ukrainians to try to move forward with American policy, noting that this would be backed by security guarantees regularly discussed by European allies, including potential troops in Ukraine. Russia has rejected this prospect, and Trump has said that US troops will not go to Ukraine.

"There is a realpolitik reality: any deal that can get Russia on board will look unfavourable to the Ukrainians. But within reason the Ukrainians will have to come to terms with something that may be second best to a deal they would have wanted two years ago," another European diplomat said. "That is just where we are."

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