US-Ukraine talks in Geneva clouded by confusion over Trump's ceasefire proposal

White House sends mixed signals over plan seen as demanding Ukraine's surrender

- Jonathan Eyal Global Affairs Correspondent

US President Donald Trump speaking with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in Washington on Oct 17. Mr Trump downplayed on Nov 22 the finality of the deadline of a leaked ceasefire deal. PHOTO: AFP

(AFP)

LONDON - Top US and Ukrainian negotiators are locked in talks in the Swiss city of Geneva over US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The diplomatic pressure on Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire deal that clearly favours Russia remains intense.

But there is also a great deal of confusion about what is being proposed and by whom, and no clear indications on how flexible the US is prepared to be in pushing through a plan that has shocked European capitals.

Everything about the latest US plan to bring an end to the war, which has raged for almost four years, remains murky.

All previous US proposals to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine were unveiled by President Trump or one of his senior officials. This time, however, the most detailed US plan to emerge from the current administration containing 28 different clauses, demands and conditions was just leaked to the media.

Fragments of the plan emerged on Nov 18, yet it was not until Nov 20 that it became clear that these formed one concrete US diplomatic proposal.

US diplomats claimed the plan was the outcome of consultations with Russian and Ukrainian officials. But the Russians swiftly denied that they contributed to the proposals, and the Ukrainians could not recall even one consultation on this matter.

More bizarrely still, Mr Trump remained uncharacteristically silent over the entire affair. The man who has transformed his presidency into a running social media commentary suddenly had nothing to say about what appeared to be one of his administration's landmark proposals.