WASHNGTON, November 24. /TASS/. In the wake of the negotiations in Geneva, the US plan for resolving the conflict in Ukraine has been reduced from 28 to 19 points, but is still viewed by Washington as a basis for future talks, The Washington Post (WP) said.
One of its sources said that in the wake of the consultations between the US and Ukrainian delegations in Geneva, the plan "was down from 28 points to 19 by Monday."
"The final number of points had not yet been agreed," the newspaper’s sources said, but "the foundation continued to be based on the original American proposal — not on a separate European draft of the US document that also circulated this weekend."
The source said that although the US finds European proposals useful, it is still convinced that future consultations should be based on the initial US plan.
Earlier, the US and Ukraine held consultations on Washington's 28-point "peace plan." US Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized the meeting as "the most productive" since the conflict's inception. Ukrainian media reported that Washington and Kiev succeeded in aligning their positions on most provisions of the plan. As Rubio noted, the US consented to separate negotiation tracks for Ukraine’s European integration and its NATO membership.
Initial versions of the US "peace plan," as reported in Western media, included Ukraine's renunciation of NATO membership and a corresponding alliance commitment not to integrate Kiev, alongside Washington's recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and Donbass, the withdrawal of Ukrainian military formations from the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the conferral of official status to the Russian language in Ukraine, limitations on the size and capacity of the Ukrainian army, and the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. EU leaders voiced their disagreement with these provisions and initiated the drafting of counterproposals.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia remains open to negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement, but there are currently no specifics regarding such contacts with the United States. There are no talks scheduled between Moscow and Washington this week. Russia has not yet received the official text of the version of the American plan, adjusted during consultations between the United States and Ukraine in Geneva.