Details are revealed for the first time Trump's Ukraine peace plan divides Europe - and makes Putin rejoice
For the first time, US President Donald Trump's administration has revealed its peace plan - at least in part. While Ukraine is losing land, Europe must also make concessions.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The Trump administration has presented its peace plan for Ukraine.
- Ukraine would lose a lot of land.
- But Europe must also make concessions.
- blue News answers the most important points.
The USA wants to negotiate an end to the war of aggression in Ukraine, which has been going on for almost three years, with Russia. US President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday that he and Russian head of state Vladimir Putin had agreed in a telephone call to begin talks immediately.
Details of the plan were also made public for the first time. blue News answers the most important points.
Ukraine must bleed
Trump's new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has already prepared the Ukrainian government for painful concessions. He described Nato membership for Ukraine as unrealistic: "The United States does not believe that Nato membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement."
Hegseth also described a return to the state borders before the annexation of Crimea in 2014 as illusory. This would "prolong the war and cause suffering." Instead, it now seems likely that Trump wants to leave the east of the country to Russia.
Doesn't Putin have the same goal?
In fact, the position of the new US administration is not too far removed from that of the Kremlin. Putin had stated that any peace agreement must ensure that Ukraine gives up its NATO ambitions and withdraws its troops from the four Ukrainian regions that Russia annexed in September 2022 but never fully took.
However, Ukraine does not want to give up these regions and the Crimean peninsula. The statements by the new US administration are therefore a major setback for the Ukrainian government, although this was already on the cards.
For Putin, there is also the fact that Trump wants to meet him. First in Saudi Arabia at a summit, and later in the USA. The Kremlin ruler, who has been largely isolated in the West for several years, is therefore likely to return to the world stage soon.
Europe is challenged
At the opening of a meeting of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group on Wednesday, Hegseth also said that an international force should secure a peace agreement in Ukraine - but without the involvement of US soldiers. He saw the Europeans in particular as having a duty in this regard.
"A lasting peace for Ukraine must include solid security guarantees to ensure that the war does not flare up again," said Hegseth. However, European and other troops would have to be deployed to provide such security guarantees. "No US troops will be sent to Ukraine." He ruled out a NATO mission.
For many of Ukraine's European partners, the US government's announcements confirm their worst fears. In Brussels and other capitals, there were already concerns that the USA could drastically reduce its support and force a peace settlement in which Russia could effectively emerge victorious.
During the election campaign, Trump constantly claimed that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours - partly due to his good contacts with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
Could Europe split?
Yes, the US course is particularly problematic because it could also divide the EU. In recent months, Hungary has repeatedly blocked support decisions for Ukraine at European level. Like Trump, Prime Minister Viktor Orban is pushing for quick negotiations.
It is also considered highly unlikely that the EU would even be in a financial and military position to enable Ukraine to successfully continue its defensive campaign against Russia on its own. In Berlin and other European capitals, not even a Ukrainian peacekeeping force without US participation has been considered conceivable to date.
It is foreseeable that the EU will now be faced with a new dispute over defense investments and possible new debts. An American withdrawal from Europe is likely to require billions in additional investment and many countries are already heavily in debt. So far, however, new EU debt has been rejected by Germany in particular.
What does this mean for Ukraine?
Hegseth's statements are a bitter setback for Ukraine, although this has been on the cards for some time. Although Kiev has never officially given up its goal of regaining all the territories controlled by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team have recently increasingly focused on a diplomatic rather than a military solution to the conflict.
A de facto but legally unrecognized Ukrainian renunciation of territory has been circulating for weeks as a possible peace solution.
A renunciation of NATO membership for the unoccupied part of Ukraine demanded by Russia and now formulated by Hegseth has also already been recognized as a danger in Kiev. Zelensky tried to counteract this by suggesting that the West rearm Ukraine with nuclear weapons instead.
The Ukrainian head of state also said that only the USA could give his country real security guarantees. He obviously does not believe in assurances from the Europeans.
