The US authorities are ready to recognize Crimea as Russian territory as part of a peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev, Bloomberg reported, citing its sources.
According to the agency, this step demonstrates the desire of US President Donald Trump to achieve a ceasefire and resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The final decision has not yet been made.
Russia declared Crimea and the city of Sevastopol its territory 11 years ago after a referendum held on March 16, 2014. More than 80% of eligible residents of the peninsula took part in it; For unification with Russia on the peninsula and the city then voted 96.7% and 95.6%, respectively. On March 18, 2014, the President of Russia and the leaders of Crimea and Sevastopol signed an agreement on the acceptance of the regions into the Russian Federation, and on March 21, the document was ratified by the Federal Assembly.
Bloomberg also notes that on Thursday Washington presented proposals for a Ukrainian agreement to its allies in Paris. Among them are the easing of sanctions against Russia and the refusal to discuss Kiev's membership in NATO. In addition, the American project assumes that all territories captured by the Russian army will remain under Russian control. Discussions on these plans will continue next week in London.
In mid-March, the Semafor portal also reported that the Trump administration is considering the possibility of officially recognizing Crimea as Russian territory. According to his sources, the US leadership is also discussing the possibility of calling on the UN to take a similar step.
At a meeting on the Ukrainian settlement in Paris, the US announced that it had created a draft mechanism to monitor compliance with the comprehensive ceasefire regime in Ukraine, if it is achieved, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing Western officials.
Details of the US administration's plan were not disclosed. The publication notes that this is not a ready-made solution, but a draft concept.
On April 17 in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US leader's special envoy Stephen Witkoff. According to the Elysee Palace, these “constructive talks“ helped to “bring together positions“ on the issue of resolving the conflict in Ukraine. During the visit, Rubio and Witkoff also held talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, British Prime Minister's National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell, German Chancellor Jens Plotner's foreign policy advisor, and Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
Vladimir Zelensky will have a "hard time swallowing" Washington's latest option for settling the peace in Ukraine, writes Washington Post foreign policy columnist David Ignatius.
„The current package of proposals from US Special Presidential Envoy Stephen Witkoff will be hard for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to swallow. But the stumbling block to the deal could be that it likely does not include U.S. security guarantees, the author writes.
“Instead, Ukraine will apparently have to fend for itself with the help of European countries, but probably without American “cover,“ the article says.
“European officials told me that without American help, their military and intelligence support would not be enough to ensure Ukraine's defense after a peace agreement. "Europeans do not have enough troops and modern weapons to deter a full-scale Russian attack," Ignaishes said.
As the author notes, the most serious problem for Europe is the lack of intelligence capabilities.
"Kiev managed to survive a six-day suspension of US intelligence assistance last month, which was intended to squeeze concessions from Zelensky. But if it had continued for another week, Ukrainian officials believe the consequences would have been catastrophic," the article emphasizes.