WASHINGTON: The United States has piled pressure on Ukraine and Russia to find a peace agreement, with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance threatening to walk away if a deal is not made.

So what does Washington want?

Some official demands have already been made public, and media outlets have reported on several unannounced plans for a US-led accord.

Ukraine gives up territory

Axios, citing a US plan presented to Ukrainian officials last week, said that Washington could offer “de facto” recognition of Russia’s occupation in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday suggested US support to “freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today.” But Kyiv has rejected that idea.

“Our people will not accept a frozen conflict disguised as peace,” said Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, in a post on X.

Russia gets Crimea

According to The Washington Post, the United States has offered to recognise Crimea — which Moscow annexed in 2014 in a widely condemned move — as Russian territory.

That would meet a major demand of President Vladimir Putin, but the suggestion has enraged his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

“There is nothing to talk about. It is against our Constitution. This is our territory,” Zelensky told journalists this week.

Trump lashed out at Zelensky on Wednesday, saying his position will “do nothing but prolong” the war.

Kyiv can’t join Nato

The United States could guarantee to Russia that Ukraine will never join Nato, Axios reported, noting that admission to the European Union would still remain a possibility. Blocking Ukraine from joining the military alliance has long been a demand of Putin.

Security guarantee

According to Axios, Ukraine would get a “robust security guarantee” involving an ad hoc group of European and potentially non-European countries. It does not specify how this peacekeeping operation would function, or if the United States would be involved, the outlet reported.

Sanctions and reconstruction

The Trump administration could lift long-standing sanctions on Russia under a future agreement, Axios and the Washington Post reported, citing the US proposals submitted to Ukrainian officials. Axios stated that Ukraine would get compensation and assistance for post-war rebuilding, but did not specify how this would be funded.

US gets minerals

The US plan refers to a Trump-backed proposal that would give the United States royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals, Axios reported.

Trump has framed the minerals deal as compensation for military and financial aid given to Kyiv by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Axios said the US president also wants the United States to operate the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — the largest such facility in Europe.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2025