Representatives of the US government, including Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, submitted a proposal to Ukraine at a meeting in Paris on Thursday, according to several anonymous officials for Wall Street Journal. According to the proposal, Ukraine should give up the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia, by agreeing that the US recognizes it as Russian territory.
It is also proposed that Ukraine should not have the right to join NATO.
Ukraine has prioritized membership in the military alliance increasingly since Russia's original invasion in 2014, when parts of eastern Ukraine were placed under Russian occupation and Crimea was illegally annexed. Russia has highlighted this aspiration as a threat and as a motive for the ongoing large-scale invasion.
Meet in London
Ukraine is expected to respond to the US proposal this week. A new meeting will be held in London on Wednesday, according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, and the USA. We are ready to continue as constructively as possible to achieve an unconditional ceasefire", writes Zelensky on X.
USA may leave
The day after Thursday's Paris meeting, US Foreign Minister Rubio hinted that they may leave the talks if no progress is made soon.
One of WSJ's sources describes the proposal as a discussion basis. A Russian demand not mentioned there is recognition of the partially occupied areas in eastern and southeastern Ukraine, which Russia claims to have annexed.
However, it does contain a proposal for the US to be allowed to take control of the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya, one of the largest in Europe.
