From the Hill / Yahoo!News:
"Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan catches Congress off guard
The Trump administration is renewing a push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, with a reported 28-point peace plan that caught Kyiv’s supporters in Congress off guard and left at least one Republican warning against what appears to be a largely pro-Moscow proposal.
The plan was reportedly worked out by President Trump’s top envoy for peace negotiations, Steve Witkoff, and a top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, and discussed with only a few top senior Ukrainian officials...
Likewise, Ukraine’s top supporters in Congress appeared to be in the dark...
Some lawmakers were left to learn the details of the 28-point peace plan largely from reporting in Axios, which broke the story, and the Financial Times, which followed up with details of the plan.
According to these reporters, the plan would have Ukraine give up full control of the eastern territory of the Donbas to Russia, even as Ukraine maintains control of about 12 percent of the territory with a heavily fortified front line, and requires Ukraine to cut the size of its armed forces by half...
Rep. Don Bacon, the outgoing Republican congressman from Nebraska, criticized the administration for reportedly negotiating with the Russians without the Ukrainians and appearing to pressure Kyiv.
“This sounds like 1938 Munich,” Bacon posted on social platform X, referring to the agreement that is largely criticized as appeasing Nazi Germany with territory at the time and emboldening Adolf Hitler to try to conquer Europe.
Other reported details of the plan include limits on Ukraine’s arsenal of weapons and limiting U.S. military assistance. The Financial Times also reported that the plan bars foreign troops from Ukrainian soil — essentially vetoing ideas for a European or international peacekeeping force to monitor any ceasefire, or potentially blocking Ukrainian partnerships with foreign militaries. Also, Kyiv would no longer receive Western long-range weapons that can strike deep into Russia.
The Financial Times continued that the plan says Russian should be recognized as an official state language in Ukraine and that it should grant official status to the local branch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kyiv accuses the church of being an arm of the Kremlin’s propaganda, supporting the war in Ukraine.
Many of the points are nonstarters for Kyiv, which has agreed to Trump’s calls for a ceasefire on existing battle lines but rejected demands to cede territory, warning it would only open the rest of the country to future Russian aggression.
Russia is apparently hoping its military advances and a corruption scandal related to Ukraine’s energy sector weaken the negotiating position of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The irony: exposed Zelensky team corruption makes peace in Ukraine much more likely,” Dmitriev posted Tuesday on X...
The plan’s reported details were met with concern among Ukraine’s staunch supporters in the U.S. and viewed as particularly cynical following a deadly strike by Russia on the Ukrainian city of Ternopil, killing at least 25 people, including three children.
“As Ukraine mourns innocent people murdered in their sleep by a russian terrorist missile, the media reports that the US Administration has shared with Ukraine a new, updated Capitulation Plan,” Olena Halushka, co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, a coalition of Ukrainian civil society leaders and think tanks, posted on X.
“No pressure on russia, just Ukraine cutting its own hands and legs. What a disgrace.”..."
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