Europe warns Kiev against making deal with Moscow without US security guarantees — WSJ

World December 05, 6:19

The message was delivered during a telephone call on December 1 between Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the newspaper said

NEW YORK, December 5. /TASS/. Leaders of European countries advised Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky against agreeing to Russia's demands without provided security guarantees on behalf of the United States, the Wall Street Journal daily reported citing its unnamed diplomatic sources.

"In recent days, European leaders have delivered a stark warning to… Zelensky - Don’t give in to Russian demands without ironclad security commitments from the US," the daily stated.

According to the WSJ diplomatic sources, the message was delivered during a telephone call on December 1 "between Zelensky and European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen."

"The European leaders insisted on the primacy of the US role in security guarantees offered to Ukraine in any deal," the daily added.

"The warnings, made in recent days, are a further example of European leaders’ attempts to insert themselves into peace talks that the US has conducted by going directly to the Kremlin and Kiev largely without European participation," according to the WSJ.

"Europe and Ukraine pressed for changes last month to improve terms for Kiev in a US-peace plan, which was devised with input from a Kremlin confidant," the US-based daily added.

Washington had previously proposed a 28-point plan for settling the conflict in Ukraine. The document caused discontent among Kiev and its European partners, who tried to significantly revise it. On November 23, the US and Ukraine held consultations in Geneva.

Later, US President Trump said that the initial plan for a peaceful settlement had been revised to take the positions of Moscow and Kiev into account, leaving only a few contentious issues. He also noted that the number of points had been reduced to 22.

On November 30, representatives of the US and Ukraine met in Florida to discuss ways to end the conflict, long-term solutions to economic and security issues, prospects for elections in Ukraine, and the territorial issue.

On December 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, businessman Jared Kushner, at the Kremlin. The key topic was the settlement in Ukraine. The conversation lasted about five hours. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the sides discussed the essence of the proposals from the four documents on the US peace plan.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Olga Stefanishina announced earlier that Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, who heads the country’s delegation to the settlement talks, would fly to the United States on December 4 for a follow-up meeting with US Presidential Envoy Witkoff.

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