Trump's 'final offer' for peace demands Ukraine accept Russia's annexation of Crimea

The United States has presented Ukraine with a so-called "final" peace proposal, which includes recognizing Crimea as part of Russia and unofficially accepting Russian control over almost all occupied territories since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The one-page document that the US presented to Ukrainian officials in Paris last week describes this as President Trump's "final offer."

On the other hand, the White House insists it is ready to walk away if the parties do not reach an agreement soon, the Telegraph reports.

According to Axios, US President Donald Trump's proposal includes significant concessions from his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who had previously ruled out the possibility of recognizing Crimea as Russian and accepting parts of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine as under Russian control.

A source close to the Ukrainian government reported that Kiev considers this proposal extremely biased in favor of Russia.

"The proposal says very clearly what tangible benefits Russia gets, but only vaguely and generally says what Ukraine will get," the source said.

What Russia would get under Trump's proposal:

De jure recognition by the US of Russian control over Crimea.

De facto recognition of the occupation of almost the entire Luhansk region and the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

A promise that Ukraine will not join NATO (the document notes that EU membership is possible).

Lifting sanctions imposed since 2014.

Increasing economic cooperation with the US, including in the energy and industry sectors.

What will Ukraine get:

“A strong security guarantee” that includes a distinct group of like-minded European and potentially non-European countries.

The document vaguely describes how this peacekeeping operation would work. There is no mention of US involvement.

The return of a small part of the Kharkiv region occupied by Russia.

Unhindered navigation along the Dnipro River in areas where it passes along the contact line.

Compensation and reconstruction assistance (no funding sources indicated).

The “final” proposal also refers to US control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which would officially be considered Ukrainian territory, with electricity from it supplied to both Ukraine and Russia.

The document also mentions a US-Ukraine agreement on mineral resources, which, according to Trump, is scheduled to be signed on Thursday, April 24.

The plan was drawn up after Trump envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin for more than four hours last week. After the plan was presented, Putin offered to halt Russian invasion along the current front lines as part of a potential deal.

A US official who participated in the talks said that US Secretary of State Marco and Witkoff had worked together "to develop a framework to bring us closer to ending the war".

However, according to the official, Kiev is currently more interested in discussing a 30-day ceasefire during the London meetings than in approving the proposed peace plan.

"Negotiations continue, we feel again and hopefully we are moving in the right direction," White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. /Telegraph/