Kiev would give up its remaining positions in return for security guarantees by the US, Vadim Prystaiko and other former Ukrainian officials have told the NYT

Kiev could give up the remaining territory it holds in Donbass if it receives "an American-backed security guarantee," several former Ukrainian officials and political analysts told the New York Times on Sunday.

A number of media outlets have claimed US President Donald Trump endorsed a peace plan that envisions Ukraine ceding territory in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics to Russia. According to the supposed initiative, Moscow would then agree to cease hostilities elsewhere.

The reports came after Trump met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Anchorage, Alaska, earlier in August. Following the talks, the two presidents expressed hope that progress had been made toward resolving the Ukraine conflict.

Ukraine "will have to swallow" the "poison pill" plan of giving up Donbass, former Foreign Minister Vadim Prystaiko told the NYT. "Then we'll see how Ukraine will digest it," he added.

Balazs Jarabik, a former political adviser for the European Union in Kiev, claimed Ukraine would probably agree to ceding territory "for a peace deal which brings Western security guarantees."

Washington views the land swaps as beneficial for Ukraine "because they believe Donbass will fall soon, and then Ukraine will have no cards to negotiate further," said Maksim Skrypchenko, president of the Transatlantic Dialogue Center research group based in Kiev.

Moscow has long accused Kiev of attacking civilians in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which declared independence from Ukraine following the Western-backed Maidan coup in 2014. Both republics, along with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in September 2022.

While Russia has agreed that Ukraine's security must be ensured, it has firmly opposed membership for Kiev in NATO or the presence of NATO troops on its territory. Last week, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that Moscow has no interest in seizing Ukrainian land, insisting that the main goal of the military operation is to protect ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking communities from persecution by Kiev.

Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky had previously refused outright to discuss territorial concessions but acknowledged that land swaps were on the agenda of the latest talks at the White House.

(RT.com)