Defence Minister Umierov says Kyiv is 90% behind Trump's peace initiative

Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umierov, photo: Dmitry Larin

During his meetings with US officials, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said that Kyiv almost completely — by 90% — supports Donald Trump's peace initiative presented in Paris.

This was reported by the New York Post, citing a senior US presidential administration official.

According to the publication, a decision on a comprehensive ceasefire may be made in London next week.

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The US official explained that the Ukrainian side's concerns relate primarily to the territorial issue — the difference between the status of «de facto» and «de jure». The former recognises the temporary occupation of the territory without its official loss. In the second case, it is the official recognition of its loss, which is unacceptable to Kyiv.

To engage Russia in negotiations, the United States may offer the Kremlin sanctions relief or even a partial unfreezing of frozen assets. This was also reported by an American official, who noted that the relevant initiative could be promoted by Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Earlier, The New York Times wrote that despite the expiration of the previous aid package to Ukraine, approved under President Joe Biden, the White House and the US Congress are not actually discussing new support.

It should also be recalled that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that US President Donald Trump is ready to stop trying to mediate in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia if there are no clear signs of a peace agreement in the coming days.

Moscow reacted to the US statement and said that there is «some progress» in negotiations to resolve the war against Ukraine, but recognises that the process is «quite difficult». They noted that a sign of progress was allegedly Russia's compliance with the moratorium on strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

At the same time, Russia stressed that the one-month moratorium on shelling of Ukraine's energy infrastructure had ended.