“Not that I know of.” One after another, the foreign ministers of the 27 acknowledged with resignation during the meeting held this Thursday in Brussels that the Government of Donald Trump has not consulted any European leaders on the new 28-point peace plan for Ukrainenegotiated directly with the Kremlin.
The president of USA It has not even shared the content of its initiative directly with its allies on the other side of the Atlantic. The Government of kyiv has confirmed that it has received the document this Thursday and has said that it hopes it will serve to intensify diplomatic efforts.
Although the heads of European diplomacy have not seen any paper – they speak of “rumours” or “journalistic indiscretions” – what is clear is that they give full credibility to the news published, since they have made an effort to reject Trump’s roadmap point by point.
If carried out, the plan would effectively mean the surrender of Ukraine after more than three and a half years of war. kyiv would have to hand over the entire Donbas region to Russia, including the territory controlled by the Government of Volodímir Zelenski.
The size of the Ukrainian Army should be cut in half and foreign troops banned from the country. The plan would therefore prevent the deployment after the war of a European deterrent force, on which the ‘coalition of volunteers’ led by the Frenchman has been working for months. Emmanuel Macron and the british Keir Starmer.
Trump’s new lurch once again unsettles community leaders. The EU considered it a victory of its own that the US president canceled the summit announced with Vladimir Putin in Budapest and to impose sanctions on Moscow for resisting a ceasefire. Brussels and Washington were marching together on Ukraine again.
Just a few weeks later, the US president changes his position again and uncritically assumes all the Kremlin’s demands, in a plan negotiated behind the backs of Ukraine and the EU.
In their meeting this Thursday, the foreign ministers of the 27 have thoroughly dismantled Trump’s new plan. Yes indeed, avoiding any criticism or direct mention to the president of the United States for fear of his fury: all objections began with the formula “we applaud all peace efforts.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, during the meeting this Thursday in Brussels
“The EU has always supported a just, global and lasting peace,” said the head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallain the press conference after the meeting, to then detail his doubts about Washington’s initiative.
“Our position has not changed. To be successful, any peace plan must have the support of Ukraine and Europe (…) The pressure should be placed on the aggressor and not on the victim. Rewarding aggression will only encourage its repetition,” the former Estonian prime minister alleged.
Compared to the 28 points of Trump’s peace plan, Kallas has said that the EU has its own strategy that only has two points: redouble the pressure on Moscow and maintain political, financial and military support for Ukraine.
“Any credible, fair and lasting peace proposal, Spain and the EU will support. But that has to start with an unconditional ceasefire,” defended the Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares.
“From the ideas I have heard (about the US-Russia plan), none of that is on the table“says the head of Spanish diplomacy. Any initiative “has to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine” and “has to respect Ukraine’s ability to maintain its security.”
“At this time, The best guarantee of security that Ukraine has is its own Army. That is why Spain and all Europeans continue to support it with military equipment,” Albares stressed, implicitly rejecting that its size be cut in half, as contemplated in Trump’s roadmap.
EU foreign ministers listen to their Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, during this Thursday’s meeting in Brussels
“And of course any decision about the future of Ukraine – which is a sovereign state with a legitimate government, which is that of democratically elected President Zelensky – It cannot be done behind Ukraine’s back.it cannot be done behind the back of the European Union,” insists the Foreign Minister.
“We praise the peace efforts, but Europe is Ukraine’s main supporter and, of course, It is the security of Europe that is at stakeso we hope to be consulted,” claimed the Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski.
“And furthermore, I hope that it is not the victim who has restrictions imposed on his ability to defend himself, but rather that the limitations fall on the aggressor,” he added.
“We will want peace, the Ukrainians want peace. A just peace that respects the sovereignty of all, a lasting peace that cannot be questioned by future aggressions,” said the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot.
“But peace cannot be capitulation. We do not want the capitulation of Ukraine. And the Ukrainians who have heroically resisted for more than three years against uninhibited aggression by Russia will always reject any form of capitulation,” maintains the head of French diplomacy.
For Barrot, the discussions “They must start with a ceasefire on the line of contact that allows negotiation on the issue of territories and security guarantees”.
This is the position that Trump himself has defended in the past and the Ukrainians are willing, he recalled. “The only obstacle to these orderly discussions is Vladimir Putin“.
But beyond their rejection of the US-Russia peace plan, the EU foreign ministers have not been able to approve this Thursday any concrete measure to support Ukraine, beyond a vague commitment to reinforce sanctions against the ‘ghost fleet’ used by the Kremlin to evade international sanctions on Russian oil.
The Twenty-seven still cannot agree on the credit of 140 billion euros so that Ukraine can survive the next two years, which will be financed with the funds of the Central Bank of Russia frozen in community territory. If there is no decision in December, Volodymyr Zelensky’s government could run out of money.
However, the only dissenting voice has once again been that of Víktor Orbán’s Hungary, Putin’s closest ally within the EU.
“He establishment in Brussels lives in an illusion when it comes to the war in Ukraine. The war has lasted almost four years now and Russia is occupying more and more Ukrainian territory. Nor have sanctions broken the Russian economy. To say that time is on Ukraine’s side is wishful thinking. It is Russia that advances and not Ukraine“said his Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó.