According to Reference News, citing AFP, the spokesperson for US President Trump recently said that Trump is "deeply disappointed" with Russia and Ukraine. Kiev, meanwhile, claims that Washington is still pressuring Ukraine to make significant territorial concessions as part of a plan to end the four-year war.
White House spokesperson Caroline Leavitt told reporters, "The President is deeply disappointed with both sides in this war. He doesn't want more empty talk; he wants to see action. He wants this war to end."
Earlier, statements by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy seemed to indicate that Washington's core position on how to end the conflict has changed little since the US submitted a 28-point plan heavily favoring Russia to Kyiv and Moscow last month.
Foreign media: Zelenskyy says US proposed a "compromise" on territorial issues
According to AFP on December 11, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said on the 11th that the status of the Donetsk region in the east and the future control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were two key points of contention during negotiations between Ukraine and the US on a possible agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The report stated that Zelenskyy told journalists at a briefing, "We have two key points of disagreement: the territory of the Donetsk region and all related issues, and the issue of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. These are two topics we are still discussing."
According to the report, Zelenskyy said the US proposed that Ukraine withdraw its forces from parts of the territory under its control in the Donetsk region, establishing this area as a "free economic zone," where Russian troops would not enter. However, Zelenskyy considered unilateral withdrawal unfair to Ukraine and demanded that Russia also withdraw an equivalent distance. Regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Zelenskyy suggested that Russia could withdraw and it could be jointly managed by Ukraine and the US, but he also admitted this idea lacks detailed support and is unlikely to be accepted by Russia.
Another report from the UK's Financial Times website on December 11 stated that President Zelenskyy said on the 11th that Trump was pressuring Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas region to establish a "free economic zone" in some areas currently controlled by Kyiv in eastern Ukraine.
The initial draft of the US' 28-point peace plan for Ukraine had called for the establishment of a "neutral, demilitarized buffer zone" after Ukrainian forces withdrew from certain parts of Donetsk.
The report stated that according to the preliminary proposal circulated last month, this buffer zone "would be recognized internationally as part of the territory of the Russian Federation."
However, Zelenskyy said that now Trump and his negotiation team have proposed a compromise. Zelenskyy said, "They want Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the territory of the Donetsk region. The so-called compromise is that Russian forces do not enter this territory."
Zelenskyy also said, "Who will manage this territory they call a 'free economic zone' or 'demilitarized zone' — they don't know... This is roughly what the compromise proposed by the United States looks like today."
He said it is unfair to ask Ukrainians to withdraw without receiving security guarantees from the US, as there is no measure that can prevent Russians from advancing into the area.
Zelenskyy asked rhetorically, "Perhaps it is fair to ask: if one party, like the US demands of Ukraine, withdraws from a place, why shouldn't the other side of the war also retreat the same distance in the opposite direction? All these things remain full of questions."
Sources: Reference News
Original: toutiao.com/article/7583548057757680166/
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