Europe demands involvement amid reports of US peace plan for Ukraine

Berlin [Germany], November 21: Senior officials in Brussels, Warsaw and Berlin reacted sceptically on Thursday to reports of a new peace plan for Ukraine drafted by the United States, with a leading German official describing it as "unacceptable."
EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said that "for any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board." "Also, we have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim, so we haven't heard of any concessions on the Russian side. I mean, if Russia really wanted peace, it could have agreed to unconditional ceasefire already some time ago," Kallas said.
Washington's blueprint, as reported by the Financial Times, is believed to include wide-ranging concessions to Moscow, calling on Ukraine to halve the size of its army and cede Russian-occupied eastern provinces including Donetsk and Luhansk.
The plan would also reportedly see Russia granted control of areas it has been unable to capture in almost four years of full-scale war.
The Axios news portal said the proposal was negotiated by US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior Russian official Kirill Dmitriev.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on his personal X account earlier that the US "will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict," without confirming that there was a concrete proposal.
A US military delegation including US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll is currently in Ukraine for high-level talks.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Wednesday he met Driscoll in Kiev and briefed the visitors on new Ukrainian drone developments.
The group, which according to US media reports includes three generals and other officers, is also expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Kiev is said to have been briefed on the new US plan, while sources in Brussels said the European Union had not been informed.
Ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul insisted that "Ukraine must be able to maintain its sovereignty, whatever the extent of its territory." "This must be negotiated on an equal footing and this is not only important for Ukraine, but also for Europe," he said.
Source: Qatar Tribune