Latest news with #SummitonPeaceinUkraine
The Star
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Ukraine, allies discuss ways to pressure Russia into 30-day ceasefire
FILE PHOTO: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine, Swiss Federal President Viola Amherd and Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak applaud during a session of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad, Switzerland, June 16, 2024. ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine has discussed ways to pressure Russia into agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire with U.S., French, British and German senior officials, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's top aide said on Thursday, part of a flurry of diplomacy to try to end the war. Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, did not say when the online talks with U.S. special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, France's top diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne, Britain's national security adviser Jonathan Powell and Guenter Sautter, a top adviser to the German leader, took place. But he said all parties "emphasised that a complete and unconditional ceasefire should be the first step towards a just and sustainable peace". "We also discussed instruments of pressure in case Russia refuses the initiative or violates the agreements," Yermak said on Telegram. Ukraine has expressed readiness to accept a U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and has accused the Kremlin of ignoring the plan. Putin has proposed a ceasefire of only three days - from May 8-10. "The Kremlin's proposal for a three-day truce is not about peace, but about safely holding of the parade in Moscow. This is political manipulation," Yermak said. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is preparing to stage a military parade on May 9 to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in what President Vladimir Putin hopes will be a show of strength. On Thursday, after the declared ceasefire had come into effect, the skies over Ukraine's major cities were quiet, though there were reports of clashes in eastern Ukraine. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Straits Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ukraine, allies discuss ways to pressure Russia into 30-day ceasefire
FILE PHOTO: Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak attends 'Ukraine. Year 2024' conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 25, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo FILE PHOTO: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine, Swiss Federal President Viola Amherd and Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak applaud during a session of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad, Switzerland, June 16, 2024. ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo KYIV - Ukraine has discussed ways to pressure Russia into agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire with U.S., French, British and German senior officials, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's top aide said on Thursday, part of a flurry of diplomacy to try to end the war. Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, did not say when the online talks with U.S. special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, France's top diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne, Britain's national security adviser Jonathan Powell and Guenter Sautter, a top adviser to the German leader, took place. But he said all parties "emphasised that a complete and unconditional ceasefire should be the first step towards a just and sustainable peace". "We also discussed instruments of pressure in case Russia refuses the initiative or violates the agreements," Yermak said on Telegram. Ukraine has expressed readiness to accept a U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and has accused the Kremlin of ignoring the plan. Putin has proposed a ceasefire of only three days - from May 8-10. "The Kremlin's proposal for a three-day truce is not about peace, but about safely holding of the parade in Moscow. This is political manipulation," Yermak said. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is preparing to stage a military parade on May 9 to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in what President Vladimir Putin hopes will be a show of strength. On Thursday, after the declared ceasefire had come into effect, the skies over Ukraine's major cities were quiet, though there were reports of clashes in eastern Ukraine. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Asia Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
Ukraine path to peace narrows as Trump drive wanes
After more than three years of war, the prospects of peace for Ukraine remain slim. There is no obvious credible pathway even to a ceasefire, given Russia's refusal to extend a brief and shaky truce over Easter. This, despite the US, UK and Ukraine all signalling their support for this idea. And even if the considerable hurdles impeding a ceasefire deal could be overcome, a more fundamental problem would remain. None of the key players in the conflict appear to have a plan for an agreement that is likely to be acceptable to Kyiv and Moscow. Previous plans, such as a joint proposal by China and Brazil in May last year, which was supported by a Chinese-led 'Friends of Peace' group, were primarily focused on a ceasefire as a stepping stone to negotiations about an actual peace agreement. This and other plans were all light on the details of what a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would entail, but were nonetheless roundly rejected by Ukraine and its western allies as favouring Russia. Given that a ceasefire would simply freeze the front lines and very likely make them permanent with or without a subsequent peace agreement, this was not an unreasonable position. What Ukraine proposed instead, however – and what its western allies backed, at least rhetorically – was hardly more viable. The peace plan proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in December 2022 was already on life support at the time of the first 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' in Switzerland in June 2024. Only 84 of the 100 delegations attending the summit (out of 160 invited) supported a watered-down version of Zelensky's plan in their final communique, and there was no agreement on a follow-up meeting. Ukraine's peace plan was clearly dead in the water. Ukraine then proposed an 'internal resilience plan'. With its its focus on ensuring that the country can survive a long war of attrition with Russia, this is anything but a peace plan. But it serves Kyiv's needs to avoid an unconditional surrender to Moscow. This is also high on the agenda for Ukraine's European allies who remain committed to supporting Kyiv. For the emerging European coalition of the willing, it is important to keep Ukraine in the fight while they build up their own defences. They face the possibility of a new international order in which the world might well be carved up into US, Russian and Chinese spheres of influence. Such a carve-up is at the heart of efforts by US President Donald Trump, who is trying to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as well as a deal that would give the US privileged access to Ukrainian resources. Having initially fallen apart during an extraordinarily acrimonious press conference in the White House on February 28, this deal now appears to be relatively close to conclusion. The ceasefire deal Trump appears to envisage would divide Ukraine itself into spheres of influence according to a plan recently suggested by Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. Yet even such a pro-Moscow arrangement that would offer Putin control of 20% of Ukraine continues to elude negotiators. At present, the Russian president has few incentives to settle for less than his maximum demands and stop a war that he thinks he is still able to win on the battlefield, particularly given Trump's unwillingness to exert any meaningful pressure on Russia. At times, it now appears more likely that Trump will simply abandon his efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine. From a Russian perspective, this would be preferable to a ceasefire that freezes the conflict but doesn't lead to a peace deal reflecting Moscow's demands. The likely calculation in the Kremlin is that even if the 2026 mid-term elections in the US water down Trump's power, that still leaves two more years to conquer more Ukrainian territory. Should Washington then make another push for a ceasefire, Moscow could claim any additional conquests as a price for Ukraine to pay for a settlement. Even if Trump does not walk away from the negotiations now, and even if his special envoy Steve Witkoff ultimately manages to cobble together a deal, this will more likely look like a ceasefire than like a peace agreement. The simple reason for this is that Russia's and Ukraine's positions on an acceptable outcome have not shifted. Putin remains committed to the full annexation of four complete Ukrainian regions as well as retaining Crimea. Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out territorial concessions and is broadly supported by Ukrainians in this stance. For the West, the reality that a peace agreement is close to impossible on terms satisfying all sides has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. To the extent that there are any joint efforts by Ukraine, the US and the European coalition of the willing, they are completely centred on a workable ceasefire. At a meeting of foreign ministers and high-level officials in Paris on April 17, discussions were focused on making such a ceasefire sustainable. While details of how this can be achieved remain unclear, the fact that there now appears to be a more inclusive negotiations track signals progress, at least on the process of negotiations. Whether this will lead to an actual breakthrough towards a sustainable ceasefire, however, will depend on their substance and whether Ukraine and Russia can ultimately agree on terms about disengagement of forces, monitoring, and guarantees and enforcement mechanisms. This is an already incredibly high bar, and the bar for a subsequent peace agreement is higher yet. In the current stage of Russia's war against Ukraine, a ceasefire is clearly a precondition for a peace agreement. But the sole focus on the former will not make the latter any more likely. What's more, given Russia's track record of reneging on the Minsk ceasefire agreements of September 2014 and February 2015, investing everything in a ceasefire deal might turn out not just a self-fulfilling but a self-defeating prophecy for Ukraine and its supporters. Stefan Wolff is professor of international security, University of Birmingham and Tetyana Malyarenko is professor of international security, Jean Monnet Professor of European Security, National University Odesa Law Academy This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
