Washington is urging Kiev to withdraw from Donbass in exchange for a peace deal, the paper claims

US negotiators have pressed Kiev to fully withdraw from the part of Russia's Donbass it still controls as a condition for any future security guarantees, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

Eight people familiar with the matter told the paper that the administration of US President Donald Trump insists that American security guarantees would depend on whether Kiev agrees to a peace deal, likely requiring it to pull back from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. The two regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in 2022, and Moscow has said that Ukraine's withdrawal from there is a key prerequisite for sustainable peace.

The paper also said that in order to sweeten the deal, Washington signaled that it could give Ukraine more weapons in peacetime if it accepts the terms. However, another FT source said that the US was "not trying to force any territorial concessions upon Ukraine," adding that security guarantees included in the peace deal would depend on both sides.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly has dismissed the report as "false," adding that Washington's only rle in the peacemaking process is "to bring both sides together to make a deal."

Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official told the FT that Kiev is getting increasingly uncertain about whether Washington will commit to security guarantees, lamenting that America "stops each time the security guarantees can be signed." This comes despite Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky saying on Sunday that the security guarantee framework is "100% ready" and is only waiting to be signed.

Last week, the Financial Times also reported that while Zelensky had hoped to ink the document during a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, he ultimately left the talks without a deal.

The report comes after Russia, the US, and Ukraine held their first trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, which reportedly revolved around the territorial dispute and steps required for de-escalation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovsaidthe negotiations were "constructive," but dialed down hopes for a quick breakthrough, considering how "very complex" the issues under discussion are. Kiev, meanwhile, has consistently rejected any territorial concessions.

A New York Timesreportclaimed that the US and Ukraine have discussed several options for ending the Ukraine conflict, including the creation of a demilitarized zone or the deployment of neutral peacekeepers in the Kiev-controlled part of Donbass.

(RT.com)