ROME, November 25. /TASS/. The EU's proposals in response to the US plan for a Ukrainian settlement lay the groundwork for a new conflict and also demonstrate the complete failure of European leadership, Italian expert, political analyst, and professor Alessandro Orsini wrote in an article for Il Fatto quotidiano.
"The EU responded to the US plan with a counter-proposal that paves the way for a new conflict," he writes, summarizing the points included in the European proposal. In his view, two documents are enough to resolve the crisis: one from Ukraine - a pledge not to join NATO, and another from NATO - a pledge not to admit Ukraine. Europe's plan, he contends, reveals that it is "defeated and in a desperate state." Orsini compares the EU leadership to a boxer who has been knocked out. "The EU is knocked out; a strong punch has created disorientation, confusion, and misunderstanding of events. The EU is attempting to portray [Russian President Vladimir] Putin as a loser," the author writes.
US plan and counter-proposal
Last week, it was reported that Washington proposed a 28-point plan for a Ukrainian settlement. The plan has angered Kiev's partners in Europe. On November 23, the US and Ukraine held consultations in Geneva. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the meeting the most productive since the onset of the conflict. Politico later reported, citing a source, that the negotiations were strained.
According to Western media reports, the initial version of the US plan called for Ukraine's pledge not to join NATO and a commitment by the alliance not to integrate Kiev, as well as recognition by the US and other countries of Russia's sovereignty over Crimea and Donbass, the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the territories of the DPR, the official status of the Russian language in Ukraine, a limitation on the size of the Ukrainian army, and the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. EU leaders expressed disagreement with several points and announced they were beginning to develop counterproposals.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia remains open to negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement, but no specifics regarding such contacts with the United States are currently known. No talks between Moscow and Washington are scheduled for this week. Russia has not yet received the official text of the revised American plan, which was amended following the US-Ukraine consultations in Geneva.