LONDON, December 4. /TASS/. US President-elect Donald Trump is currently weighing a settlement plan for Ukraine from three options available to his team, including one drafted by the future vice president, James David Vance, Reuters reports.
According to the news agency, alongside Vance's plan, Trump is reviewing settlement proposals from Keith Kellogg, whom he proposed as his assistant and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. The third option was presented by the former acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell.
No details of either Vance’s or Grenell’s plans are available at this time. Reuters notes that the future vice president opposed providing assistance to the Ukrainian authorities and rejected the idea of Ukraine’s NATO membership but emphasized the need for a demilitarized zone on the border with Russia, which the United States would need to fortify to prevent Russia’s further advance during the special military operation.
Grenell also argues that Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance "is not in America’s interest," but at the same time supports the creation of "autonomous zones" in eastern Ukraine. Grenell was one of the participants in the meeting between Trump and Vladimir Zelensky in New York in September, a source told the agency.
In addition, some details of Kellogg's plan are known: he advocates increasing aid to Ukraine if Russia refuses to negotiate. However, Reuters notes that this could trigger objections from Congress, as "some of Trump’s closest allies oppose additional military aid for the Eastern European nation."
"I don't think anybody has any realistic plan for ending this [conflict]," said Eugene Rumer, a former top US intelligence analyst on Russia, now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank.
The Russian authorities have repeatedly warned that attempts to beef up Ukraine’s military strength will not diminish Moscow's resolve or turn the tide in the special military operation. At the same time, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that there were currently no grounds for Russian-Ukrainian talks.