Ukraine doubts Russia’s desire for peace amid reports of US-drafted plan
Al Jazeera
As fighting rages and Russia seizes settlements, a US-Russia constructed plan looks set to upset Kyiv and its EU allies.
Ukrainian defenders have been attempting to mount a defence of the surrounded eastern cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, a month into Russia’s latest attempt to seize them.
On Thursday, as fighting on the front lines raged, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Russia has no interest in ending the war amid reports Washington and Moscow have drafted a 28-point peace plan. The proposal is said to heap pressure on Ukraine to give up land, something Kyiv has throughout the war said was a red line.
“Russia has no real desire for peace; otherwise, they would not have started this war,” he said in a recorded message posted to X. “The United States has the power to ensure that Russia’s willingness to end the war finally becomes serious.”
Russia dedicated 150,000 troops to capturing the enclave containing Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, Ukraine said, which is now surrounded on three sides, with Ukrainian supply lines open only to the west.
Zelenskyy told US senators in a bipartisan virtual meeting on November 12 that Russia had suffered its greatest casualty rate of the entire war in Pokrovsk, estimating it at 25,000 – though he did not specify over what period.
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