Ukraine, USA discuss three documents to achieve peace – Stubb
Peace for Ukraine is closer now than at any time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in early 2022, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said, Bloomberg reported
"We're quite close to an agreement," Stubb said at an event in Helsinki on Tuesday. The negotiations involve three separate documents, he said.
The first is a framework document, which "as of yesterday's conversation" between European leaders "stands as a 20-point plan."
"The original 28-point plan included elements of a future European security structure which in my mind were completely unacceptable," Stubb said.
After weeks of intense negotiations, Ukraine has managed to soften a 28-point peace plan proposed by the United States, which appeared to be advantageous to Russia because it sought to bar Kyiv from joining NATO and limit the size of its army.
A new 20-point framework document has emerged, but it remains unclear how it will deter Moscow from another attack in the future. Several European leaders discussed the latest peace efforts in a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his talks in London on Monday.
"We are reaching a point' where the terms of a potential deal are becoming more palatable." "I feel quite comfortable where we are right now," Stubb said.
The second document being discussed between the Trump administration, Ukrainian officials and security agencies in Europe concerns security guarantees in Ukraine, Stubb said, distinguishing between hard security guarantees and security arrangements. The latter involve a coalition of the willing, he said.
The third document concerns Ukraine's post-war reconstruction.
Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, a former secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said the path to peace lies in changing Russian President Vladimir Putin's calculations.
"If the price he has to pay is too high he may accept something. I don't think we can change Putin's mind," Stoltenberg said at the same event in Helsinki.
