Politics

Ukraine, EU partners finalize revised peace proposal, ready to present plan to US

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Ukraine, EU partners finalize revised peace proposal, ready to present plan to US
For illustrative purposes. Zelensky holds a phone call on Jan. 29, 2024. (Volodymyr Zelensky / X)

Ukraine and its European partners have completed revisions to a peace proposal aimed at ending Russia's full-scale war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 9.

The announcement reflects Kyiv's effort to present a unified European position before engaging with Washington, as European leaders grow uneasy over U.S.-led negotiations.

"The Ukrainian and European components are now more developed, and we are ready to present them to our partners in the U.S.," Zelensky said. "Together with the American side, we expect to swiftly make the potential steps as doable as possible."

Ukraine's negotiating team briefed Zelensky earlier on Dec. 9 on the results of consultations in London with EU national security advisers.

Zelensky held talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders on Dec. 8, before traveling to Brussels for meetings with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and EU officials.

The Ukrainian president noted that the pace of progress ultimately depends on whether Russia is prepared to take "effective steps to stop the bloodshed and prevent the war from reigniting."

European leaders have grown increasingly uneasy after Washington launched negotiations built around a U.S.–Russian draft proposal that demanded far-reaching concessions from Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president earlier told Bloomberg that negotiations with Washington still hinge on "sensitive issues," including security guarantees and the status of eastern Ukrainian regions.

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Tim Zadorozhnyy

Reporter

Tim Zadorozhnyy is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering foreign policy, U.S.-Ukraine relations, and political developments across Europe and Russia. He studied International Relations and European Studies at Lazarski University and Coventry University. Tim began his journalism career in Odesa in 2022 as a reporter for a local television channel. He later spent a year and a half at the Belarusian independent media outlet NEXTA, first as a news anchor and later as a managing editor. He is fluent in English, Ukrainian, and Russian.

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