War in Ukraine – a “Crucial week”. This is how the head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio qualifies the sequence which opens this Monday, April 28 for Ukraine and Russia, in the context of negotiations for a peace agreement.
In an interview given to the American channel NBC Sunday, April 27, the Secretary of State of Donald Trump said that “We are close (an agreement) but not close enough”believing that progress could be made in the coming days.
War in Ukraine: why Crimea is at the center of discussions for a truce
“We must determine whether this is an initiative in which we want to continue to get involved or if it is time to focus on other questions which are just as, or even more important in certain cases”, He said, threatening the subsext to withdraw from the negotiation process if no progress has been made in the coming days. Impossible to know, however, whether this is a bluff from the Trump administration.
For his part, Donald Trump, traveling this Monday, February 28 in New Jersey, returned to the question of Crimea. While a journalist asked him if he thought Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to ” give up “ This territory, Trump replied: “I think yes. Crimea was 12 years ago. »» However, this scenario has always been dismissed by kyiv so far.
In the process, this MOSTE 28 April, Moscow said that recognition of the Russian annexation of Ukrainian regions was a prerequisite for any negotiation with kyiv.
“Sit and sign!” »»
Ukraine’s renunciation of Crimea is regularly advanced by Washington as a condition for a peace plan with Moscow. This would also include a frost line freezing in the US administration projects.
Saturday, April 26, on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral in Rome, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky exchanged for fifteen minutes.
-Trump also spoke on Sunday evening on the phone with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, the two officials insisting on “The importance of consolidating the beginnings to start negotiations in order to agree on a reliable path towards long -term lasting peace”according to a press release from Russian diplomacy.
Donald Trump, however, has expressed doubts in recent days about Vladimir Putin’s desire to end the war. “I want him to stop shooting. Sit and sign the agreement “the American president launched Sunday. “We have the basics of an agreement, I think, and I want him to sign it”he added.
The support of North Korea
Thirty-eight months after having sparked a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia occupied around 20 % of the Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.
On Saturday, the chief of staff of the Russian army, Valéri Guérassimov, had assured that the Koursk region had been entirely “Released” Ukrainian troops. The general had in particular paid tribute to the“Heroism” North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia – it was the first time that Moscow recognized their participation in the conflict.
North Korea also confirmed on Monday, breaking with its silence until then on this question, the presence of a contingent of its soldiers in Russia to participate “To the release operations of Koursk areas” As part of the mutual defense agreement between the two countries.
To see also on The HuffPost :
Vladimir Putin claims the resumption of the Koursk region, but Ukraine has another version
Zelensky violently attacked by Trump for his firm position on Crimea
