U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for Russia to maintain control over the occupied Ukrainian territories, which he deems as a "final" condition. According to The Times, this serves as an ultimatum for Kyiv: accept the terms or lose U.S. support.
Source: The Times, citing a source close to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
The source states that Trump believes the Ukrainian president "effectively has no choice" but to agree to the proposed plan. He threatens to withdraw from the peace process as soon as next week if no agreement is reached.
The U.S. proposal presented by Witkoff to Moscow and Kyiv includes official recognition of Russia's control over Crimea, as well as de facto recognition of Russian control over parts of southern and eastern Ukraine captured after the full-scale invasion in 2022.
The competitive European-Ukrainian proposal suggests that the issue of territorial control will only be discussed after a ceasefire is achieved.
"Trump's view is that this land has been taken, and it will not be returned. The current proposed deal states that the territories occupied by Russia will remain under its control. Russia will not back down. This point is final," the source reported.
According to the source, the U.S. believes that if Ukraine rejects this deal, the war could continue for months or even years, with Kyiv relying on funding and weapons supplies from Europe.
"Cuts in U.S. funding will have the same effect as reducing arms supplies (this year – ed.), since Ukraine uses these funds to purchase weapons from other allies," the source noted.
When asked whether this is a case of "take it or leave it," the source replied that the U.S. views the situation as "take it or take it."
Directly: "American officials also believe that public opinion in Europe may shift against large expenditures to support Ukraine, especially in light of a potential recession in the EU, partly caused by tariffs imposed by Trump."
Details: After three hours of negotiations between Witkoff and Putin in Moscow on Friday, April 25, Russian President's assistant for international affairs Yuri Ushakov, who was also present at the meeting, called the talks constructive and beneficial.
"This conversation allowed Russia and the U.S. to further align their positions not only on Ukraine but also on a number of other international issues," Ushakov stated.
Trump reinforced his firm stance on Russian-occupied territories, telling Time magazine on Friday that "Crimea will remain with Russia" and again blamed Kyiv for provoking Moscow's invasion.