Sybiha: Only Trump can stop war in Ukraine
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said this in an interview with Reuters, Ukrinform reports.
“Only Trump can stop the war,” Sybiha said.
According to him, from a 20-point peace plan, only “a few” points remain unresolved. “The most sensitive and most difficult, to be dealt with at the leaders' level,” the Ukrainian Foreign Minister added.
During the second round of trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi earlier this week, no breakthrough was reported, although 314 prisoners of war were exchanged on Thursday – the first such exchange since October.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told reporters on Saturday that the U.S. had proposed a new round of talks in Miami in a week, which Kyiv had agreed to.
“My assessment is we have momentum, that's true. We need consolidation or mobilization of these peace efforts, and we're ready to speed up,” the minister said.
Ukraine is focused on securing Western security guarantees to deter potential future Russian aggression once a ceasefire agreement comes into effect.
Sybiha said the U.S. had confirmed its readiness to ratify security guarantees in the U.S. Congress.
"I personally do not believe, at this stage, in any security infrastructure or architecture without the Americans ... We must have them with us – and they are in the process. That's a huge, huge achievement," he said.
The Ukrainian top diplomat also stated that some other countries, besides the UK and France, which had already publicly committed, had confirmed their readiness to send troops to Ukraine as a deterrent force, though he declined to name them.
Sybiha added that apart from "boots on the ground", there must be a mechanism similar to NATO’s Article 5, which classifies an attack on one member state as an attack on all.
He also noted that Ukraine’s proposed EU membership would provide an additional layer of security.
On Saturday, Zelensky raised concerns about bilateral talks between Russia and the U.S., which he said included a proposal from Moscow for $12 trillion in investments.
Sybiha stated that some of these discussions could affect Ukraine’s sovereignty or security, and Kyiv would not support any agreements made without its consent.
He also emphasized that any country's decision to recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea or the Donbas in the course of peace negotiations would be “legally void”.
“We will never recognize this. And it will be a violation of international law. This was not about Ukraine. It's about principle,” Sybiha concluded.
Previously, President Zelensky stated that a peace plan would not satisfy everyone and would inevitably require compromises.
