First there was a 28-point plan pushed by Trump last Wednesday, as a solution to end almost four years of a war that has devastated Ukraine and killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians. By the weekend, there had been a redraft. A slimmed down 19-point proposal. This time seemingly less skewed towards Russia. By Tuesday, at a summit in Abu Dhabi, US, Russian and Ukrainian officials were hammering out a third version.
The Guardian’s Russian affairs reporter, Pjotr Sauer, told Nosheen Iqbal what it has been like to watch these twists and turns. “The pace has been staggering. We’ve seen Ukrainian and American officials meet in Geneva, we’ve seen Europeans gather and come together with their own peace plan, and now we’re seeing Russian and Ukrainian and Americans officials flying to Abu Dhabi. All in the space in a week. There are rumours that Zelenskyy will fly to Washington to meet Trump himself. And I think it’s likely that US officials will also fly to Moscow to meet Putin in the Kremlin.”
Ukraine now says it broadly accept the plan as long as certain – unnamed – details are sorted out. But will Russia be so easily persuaded?