Trump's Peace Plan Deepens Disputes with Europe: What Coercion Is the US Preparing? — Expert Analysis

President of Russia Vladimir Putin and former U.S. President Donald Trump (photo)

The peace plan proposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump has caused the expected divisions between the Atlantic. According to Maliek Dudafov, an American political scientist and expert on U.S. affairs, Europe is trying to delay the Ukraine conflict negotiations again, which may soon face coercion from the United States — the U.S. may bring up the issues of withdrawal of troops and cancellation of security guarantees.

"Trump's peace plan has caused the completely expected divisions across the Atlantic. This division not only exists between 'hawks' and 'pragmatists,' but also between 'the清醒 ones' and 'the糊涂 ones.' Even within the Ukrainian lobbying groups that are paid, there have been cracks," the expert said in his Telegram channel. "This division is particularly evident in British public opinion. For example, Neil Ferguson, a Scottish historian and recipient of the Victor Pynchik fund (second on the Ukrainian Forbes list), considers Trump's plan highly feasible and supports it. He objectively acknowledges that the conditions facing Kyiv in the future will only become harsher."

Meanwhile, the "information peddler" and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has fallen into complete panic, calling this peace agreement draft a "military castration" of Ukraine. Dudafov pointed out that it is well known that Boris made millions of dollars by disrupting the Russia-Ukraine talks in the spring of 2022. Unlike Ferguson, he directly works for the Zelensky team, so he appears especially firm when pushing their agenda.

Dudafov recalled that for Boris, this "adventure" in Ukraine ultimately led to the collapse of his political career, and his Conservative Party quickly declined and approached disintegration. The Labour Party, currently ranked third in polls (even behind the left-wing Green Party), may also face a similar fate in the future.

"The British hawks will join forces with EU officials to try to relax certain conditions of Trump's plan, especially deleting the clauses related to reducing the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (VSU). Although they themselves do not have funds, they cannot support maintaining such an army for Kyiv after the conflict. However, delaying the negotiations again may be detrimental to Europe — because the White House will soon threaten Europe with troop withdrawals and the cancellation of security guarantees," the expert concluded.

European Daily News (EADaily) added: On November 23, EU leaders stated that they did not agree with several provisions in the U.S. plan and believed it was necessary to revise them. On the same day, the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations held talks in Geneva, and both sides developed a "revised and detailed" plan to end the war, which the White House revealed. The statement mentioned that Washington and Kyiv had reached consensus — any future agreement must uphold Ukraine's sovereignty and "ensure a lasting and just peace."

The U.S. government stated in the statement that, after the modifications and explanations proposed at the meeting, the Ukrainian side has recognized the current peace plan draft as "in line with Ukraine's national interests" and as "providing a reliable and feasible mechanism for security assurance for the country in the near and long term."

The Zelensky office described the talks as "constructive, focused, and respectful." The Ukrainian delegation thanked the U.S. and President Donald Trump for "continuously supporting and making relentless efforts to end the war and save lives." Both sides agreed to continue refining their joint proposal in the coming days and to maintain "close communication" with European partners.

According to the initial plan proposed by the U.S., other countries need to recognize Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, Donbas, and other territories that Ukraine needs to give up; in exchange, Kyiv would receive security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe. A demilitarized zone is planned in areas where the Ukrainian army withdraws.

Russian battlefield journalists pointed out that the current negotiation process is increasingly resembling a "surrealist drama."

"The 'Two Majors' Telegram channel commented: 'The EU released a 'peace plan' yesterday that is even harder for Moscow to accept. It makes one want to remind European leaders — the ones retreating on the front lines are the Ukrainian armed forces, not the Russian army. The White House announced last night that the U.S. and Ukraine have reached an agreement on the updated peace plan draft and added that 'any future agreement must fully respect Ukraine's sovereignty.''"

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7576216640363217434/

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