The EU considers two points from Trump's peace plan categorically unacceptable

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, photo: Getty Images/EPA/Bloomberg/Jim Lo Scalzo

For the European Union member states, the recognition of Crimea as Russian and Ukraine's abandonment of its NATO membership aspirations are categorically unacceptable points of the peace plan proposed by former US President Donald Trump.

This is reported by the Financial Times.

According to the newspaper, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to recognise Russia's sovereignty over any territories it has occupied since 2014. Instead, Donald Trump criticised this position, calling it «very harmful» to his peacekeeping efforts and «provocative».

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«He can make peace or continue to fight for three more years before he loses the whole country», Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

It is also noted that the US decision to approve the annexation of Crimea, contrary to NATO's agreed position, could be the biggest concession to Moscow in recent months during the negotiations on a peace agreement.

In addition, the Trump administration has ruled out the possibility of Ukraine's membership in NATO, a demand that has long been voiced by the Kremlin. The article emphasises that the US is allegedly rewarding Moscow generously, while Kyiv is under pressure and threats, without receiving substantial guarantees in exchange for territory concessions.

Western officials have stated that Europe will not support any US action aimed at recognising Crimea as Russian and will not pressure Kyiv to accept such conditions. European countries remain consistent in their support for Ukraine's sovereignty.

For the EU, recognition of the annexation of Crimea is unacceptable, as it would be the first case of a forceful seizure of territory in Europe since World War II, which would threaten the international order that has ensured peace on the continent for decades.

Even if the United States acted alone, it would be seen as encouraging Russian aggression and could provoke further encroachment on Georgia, Moldova and the former Soviet republics, including the Baltic states, which are NATO and EU members.

According to one European official, the Trump administration has already been informed that none of the European capitals will agree to recognise Crimea as part of Russia. He also stressed that the leading NATO countries in Europe should convince Washington to avoid unilateral decisions.

As a reminder, the US administration is awaiting a response from Ukraine to a list of proposals, including the possibility of recognising Crimea as Russian, refusing to join NATO and creating a neutral zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The proposals were reportedly outlined in a confidential document that US officials handed over to Ukrainian representatives during a meeting in Paris. The same ideas were also presented to European officials.

To increase the pressure, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States could suspend diplomatic efforts if no progress is made on key issues in the coming weeks. According to Washington, these initiatives should create conditions for a ceasefire along the current front line and formalise the end of the conflict.

At the same time, the Russians claim to have made «some progress» in negotiations to resolve the war against Ukraine, but admit that the process is «quite difficult».