Europe and Kiev reject key points in plan to end Ukraine war
Kiev's major European allies sided with President Vladimir Zelensky in rejecting key elements of a U.S.-Russian plan to end the war in Ukraine that involves significant concessions to Russia, Bloomberg writes.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed in a phone call with Zelensky on Friday that the Ukrainian military must retain the ability to defend the country's sovereignty and that the current contact line should be the starting point for any peace talks, the German government said in a statement.
"This is about a just and lasting peace, and we believe that individual elements of this plan can contribute to this goal. We want to engage constructively in guiding this process into a dynamic that will bring us closer to our goal of sustainable peace in Ukraine," German government spokesman Stefan Cornelius told reporters in Berlin on Friday.
Merz convened the conversation to develop a response to a plan developed by the U.S. and Russia without the EU and Ukraine to end the war. It consists of 28 points, including Ukraine's refusal to join NATO and territorial concessions. According to Financial Times sources, Washington is pressuring Kiev to accept the plan. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy said that Kiev was "ready for constructive, honest and prompt work" on the points of the peace plan.
European leaders will also meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa on Nov. 22 to determine next steps, a Bloomberg source said.
While the United States and Russia have largely sidelined European countries in their efforts to end the war, Europe's response to their proposal is playing a key role in shaping Ukraine's next move, the agency notes. The European Union is still trying to agree on a mechanism that would unlock some €140 billion ($160 billion) to support the Ukrainian war effort amid cuts in U.S. aid to Kiev.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
