Pistorius on US "peace" proposals: Ukraine could have capitulated on its own

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has reacted to US President Donald Trump's "peace" proposals, which foresee territorial concessions by Ukraine, comparing them to a surrender by Kyiv and stressing that this would go too far.

"Ukraine on its own could have got a year ago what was included in that [Trump] proposal, it is akin to a capitulation. I cannot discern any added value," Pistorius said, as quoted by German TV news service Tagesschau.

The minister added that Ukraine understands that a sustainable and reliable ceasefire agreement or peace deal "may involve territorial concessions".

"But these will certainly not go … as far as they do in the latest proposal from the US president," Pistorius added.

He also emphasised that, in the end, any peace agreement must be tied to future security guarantees for Ukraine.

Axios reported that the Trump administration handed Ukraine a one-page document in Paris, presented as a "final proposal" for a peace settlement. Among other points, the US was prepared to recognise Russia’s control over Ukrainian Crimea and to ease sanctions against Moscow.

On 24 April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the US had presented its strategy for the Ukrainian territories during talks in London, but that after the US proposal, "another paper appeared" which he said had been drawn up following a conversation between the Ukrainian delegation, the European team and the United States.

Later, Reuters reported it had reviewed the text of proposals regarding an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine which were handed to the US side on 23 April by Ukrainian and European officials during negotiations in London.