FT: Crimea’s status could spark major diplomatic crisis within NATO
The Financial Times has reported that European capitals will not support any US move to recognise Crimea as Russian or pressure Kyiv to accept such a deal. However, some European officials fear that disagreements over the issue will undermine transatlantic security and even disrupt the NATO summit in late June.
The Financial Times noted that the Trump administration had presented Kyiv with a draft agreement with terms that were very favourable to Moscow, including US recognition of Russia's sovereignty over Crimea.
However, Western officials told the FT that European capitals would not support any US move to recognise Crimea as Russian or pressure Kyiv to accept it.
As officials from unnamed countries said, they will stick to their long-standing position: they will not accept anything that affects Ukraine's sovereignty.
According to the Financial Times, for Europeans, the idea of recognising the annexation of Crimea is unacceptable, as it would destroy the rules-based order that has ensured peace on the continent for generations.
"Crimea and [Ukraine's] future NATO membership aspirations are red lines for us. We can’t give them up," an unnamed EU official said.
The European official said that the Trump administration has already been told that European capitals will not be able to recognise Crimea as Russian. The largest European NATO powers should dissuade Washington from unilateral action, the official added.
The status of Crimea could lead to a serious diplomatic crisis in NATO, the newspaper notes. Prior to the US proposal, NATO officials tried to downplay internal divisions over Ukraine, insisting that the annual summit of alliance leaders in The Hague would focus on defence spending, not war, as participants in the discussions said.
However, Trump's proposed deal and the possibility that the US could abandon the talks, blame Kyiv and normalise relations with Moscow could lead to a split among NATO leaders. "The core issue for the summit is where we are on Ukraine," a Western official said.
Similar divisions are likely to deepen in the EU, particularly over what to do with the EU's economic sanctions against Russia if Washington decides to lift its restrictions.
"Things don't look good at all," an EU official said. They said that any move by the US to recognise Crimea as part of Russia or to demand that European capitals ease sanctions against Moscow would destroy the unity of the EU.
Earlier reports indicated that President Trump’s administration handed Ukraine a one-page document in Paris last week, presented as a "final" offer for peace – the key points of that proposal are outlined in this news.
Among other things, the US is reportedly ready to recognise Russian control over Ukrainian Crimea and to ease sanctions against Moscow as part of a potential peace agreement.
Zelenskyy recently reiterated that Ukraine does not recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea, which is internationally acknowledged as Ukrainian territory.
Trump criticised the statement, saying that "Crimea was lost many years ago" and that Zelenskyy's words "harm peace talks".