According to several consistent media reports, the US government is proposing that Ukraine give up Crimea, through an American recognition of the annexed peninsula as Russian territory.
In addition, the occupied parts of eastern and southeastern Ukraine will in practice remain Russian, according to news site Axios' insight into the negotiations. This concerns the areas in the regions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia that are under Russian control.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a four-hour-long conversation with the American envoy Steven Witkoff in Russia last week. There, the Russian proposed that the war be frozen along the current front line, according to sources for Financial Times. This would constitute a small deviation from the Russian stance that the four regions have actually been annexed in their entirety.
Releasing Border Areas
The US proposal was submitted to Ukraine last week, and according to reports, it explicitly states that it is the "final offer".
According to Axios, it is proposed that Russian forces leave the smaller areas they control in the border area in northeastern Ukraine, in the same areas where Ukraine has long controlled a part of Russia on the other side of the border.
Beyond this, the US is reportedly willing to give Russia a promise that Ukraine will not be allowed to join the military alliance NATO.
Ukraine has prioritized membership in NATO increasingly since Russia's original invasion in 2014. Russia has, on its part, highlighted this aspiration as a threat and a motive for the ongoing major invasion.
Sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 will be lifted, according to the proposal. Then, the country will get a greater economic exchange with the US, where Trump has spoken of great business opportunities.
Vague about Ukraine's Give
According to the consistent reports that have leaked out, Ukraine is proposed to receive a vaguely formulated security guarantee for the future.
The question of how this guarantee will be formulated – and which military power will stand behind it – is high on the agenda when Ukraine consults with its allies.
Ukraine is also said to receive promises of help with reconstruction.
The negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of the shift in power in the US, where President Trump has promised to resolve the conflict in no time. Trump said the other day that he sees it as possible to reach an agreement as early as this week. Foreign Minister Rubio has warned that the US may "move on" if there is no progress in the near future.
