Irina Pogorelaya20:14, 09.08.25

Europe’s goal is to work with Ukraine to draw a common red line that should apply to any possible negotiations with Russia.

Europe and Ukraine have put forward their own ceasefire plan that should serve as the basis for future talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing European officials familiar with the negotiations. According to them, today during a meeting in Great Britain, Europe rejected the proposal to exchange the parts of Donetsk region controlled by Ukraine for a ceasefire. It was put forward at a meeting with high-ranking US representatives.

Europe’s goal is to work with Ukraine to draw a common red line that European officials say should apply to any possible negotiations with Russia.

The publication noted that Europe’s proposal envisages a ceasefire before any further steps. It also states that territories can only be exchanged on a reciprocal basis, meaning that if Ukraine withdraws troops from some regions, Russia must withdraw troops from others.Read also:

“You can’t start the process by giving up territory in the middle of fighting,” said one European negotiator.

It is important to note that the European plan, which has already been presented to the Americans, also stipulates that any territorial concessions by Ukraine must be provided with unshakable security guarantees, including possible membership in NATO.

The European plan was developed and presented to the US side by top aides to European leaders in Britain today. US Vice President J.D. Vance attended the meeting in person, and most other US officials were there via video link.

Putin has said he would agree to a cease-fire if Ukraine gives him back the parts of Donetsk region it controls, according to several officials briefed on the proposals from Moscow. The front lines would also be frozen elsewhere, including in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which Russia also claims.

Some European officials said today that if Ukraine gives up the entire Donetsk region, Russia will have to withdraw from the occupied parts of Zaporozhye and the Kherson region.

“The unexpected plan has shocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders. After a conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday, he called it “a plan to reduce everything to a discussion of the impossible” and said Ukraine would not give its land to anyone,” the WSJ wrote.

The publication noted that most military analysts believe that Russia is unlikely to seize the heavily fortified agglomerations of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the northern Donetsk region. And handing over this strategic territory, home to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens, in exchange for a ceasefire would mean, according to European officials involved in the negotiations, that Putin would receive an unexpected benefit in exchange for the absence of any obligations.

The WSJ notes that once Putin’s true plan became apparent, it was immediately rejected by both Zelensky and the Europeans:

“It’s just giving Putin everything he wants in exchange for nothing,” one source commented.

Putin and Trump talks

Last night it became known that Putin and Trump will meet at the end of next week. And this morning the meeting place was determined. It was Alaska. 

After a meeting of national security advisers in London today, French President Emmanuel Macron said Ukraine’s future cannot be decided without Ukrainians . He added that Europeans would also be involved in solving the problem.

(c)UNIAN 2025