Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Ukrainian and European officials rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for a ceasefire in exchange for Kyiv to cede its eastern territories to Russia, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Aug. 9.
The EU and Ukrainian officials instead offered a counterproposal to U.S. officials ahead of a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska.
Putin told U.S. envoy Wikoff during a meeting on Aug. 6 that Russia would agree to a full ceasefire if Kyiv withdrew its forces from Donetsk Oblast, giving Moscow full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as Crimea.
President Volodymyr Zelensky firmly rejected on Aug. 9 the idea of ceding any Ukrainian territory to end Russia's war, with talks on the proposal beginning in the U.K. with U.S., Ukrainian, and EU officials on Aug. 9.
Two European officials familiar with the talks told WSJ that Europe aims to draw a unified red line with Ukraine, instituting that that EU officials say be involved in any potential peace negotiation with Russia. The development comes as Trump has suggested he will include Ukraine in future negotiations only after an initial meeting with Putin.
The counterproposal presented to Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg and Witkoff, also demands that a ceasefire be enacted before further steps are taken, adding that territory can only be exchanged in a reciprocal manner, the news agency reported.
"You can’t start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting," one European negotiator told WSJ, amid Trump's comments on Aug. 8 that Moscow and Kyiv would likely include "some swapping of territories."
"Well you're looking at territory that's been fought over for three-and-a-half years... So we're looking at that, but we're actually looking to get some back," Trump said during a press conference alongside the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. "Some swapping, it's complicated."
"We're going to get some back. We're going to get some switched. There will be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both," Trump added.
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