Moscow is fine with the United States-backed peace proposal to end the long-drawn Russia-Ukraine conflict, however, Kyiv is yet to accept it, said US President
Donald Trump. Trump's 'peace plan' to end the long-drawn conflict in Ukraine includes a 28-point draft proposal that requires Ukraine to cede territory, avoid joining NATO and much more. US President Donald Trump said, "...Russia and Ukraine, I thought it was going to be a little bit easier, but it's not being made easy..." "We have been speaking to President Putin and Ukrainian leaders, including President Zelenskyy. I am a little disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn't read the proposal yet...Russia's fine with it (proposal)...But I am not sure that Zelenskyy is fine with it. His people love it. But he is not ready..." Trump said.
Last week, President Trump had claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the impression that Moscow "would like to end the war." Trump had made the remark in reference to Putin's meeting with special US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin.
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"Putin had a very good meeting yesterday with Jared Kushner and with Steve Whitkoff. What comes out of that meeting, I can't tell you because it does take two to tango." Trump told reporters in Oval Office on Thursday. "He (Putin) would like to end the war, that was their impression," he added.
Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Tuesday's talks at the Kremlin between Putin and US envoy Witkoff and Kushner were "positive", adding that some work remains.
The meeting came days after US officials held talks with a Ukrainian team in Florida and which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described in cautiously optimistic terms.
A US peace proposal that became public last month was criticised for being tilted heavily toward Moscow because it granted some of the Kremlin's core demands that Kyiv has rejected as nonstarters. The peace formula bars Ukraine from joining NATO and Russia's re-entry to G8, according to the draft proposal seen by the Associated Press, AFP and Axios.
(With agency inputs)
