The clause in President Donald Trump's proposal to end the war that includes legal recognition of Russian sovereignty over territory seized in eastern Ukraine is the "main problem" in negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Speaking before Sweden's Parliament, Zelenskyy underscored that one of Kyiv's key objections to the American plan is its request that Ukraine and the international community formally acknowledge some Russian-occupied territory as no longer Ukrainian.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants legal recognition to what he has stolen, to break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty," Zelenskyy said.
"That's the main problem. You all understand what that means," he added.
Ukrainian and American officials met over the weekend in Switzerland to talk about the 28-point plan and discussed the possibility of Zelenskyy visiting the U.S. this week as part of Trump's effort to reach an agreement by Thanksgiving, according to multiple American and Ukrainian officials.
Trump has described the Thanksgiving deadline as flexible, adding that the peace plan was "not my final" proposal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Geneva for the negotiations, said "very, very meaningful" progress was made with the Ukrainian and European delegations but that "there's still some work left to do, and that's what our teams are going to be doing right now."
Rubio declared that the session in Geneva was "probably the most productive day we have had on this issue" since Trump came back into office in January but also stressed that there was more work to do and said he didn't want to "declare victory or finality."
Finland's President Alexander Stubb said there were still "major issues which remain to be resolved" regarding the U.S. proposal, though he also welcomed progress made during the negotiations in Geneva.
The White House said in a statement Sunday night that U.S. and Ukrainian officials "drafted an updated and refined peace framework" following their discussions, but Russia's government said Monday that the revisions had not been shared and that it would reserve judgment.
Putin said Friday that the U.S. proposal could serve as the basis of a negotiated resolution of the conflict, but he warned that if Ukraine turned down the plan, Russian forces would remain on the attack, taking additional territory.
The 28-point plan, which U.S. officials said last week had Trump's backing, raised serious concerns among America's European allies for being perceived as too favorable to Russia.
Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., told CBS News' "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday that her country had not agreed to all of the terms in the proposal.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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