The meeting in Kiev of the US delegation, led by the top representative of the US army Daniel Driscoll, with European representatives was “disgusting“ for the European Union, the British newspaper Financial Times reported.
“Ukraine is in a very bad situation, what is being offered is the best it can hope for“, the newspaper quoted Driscoll as saying in Kiev during a meeting at the residence of the US chargé d'affaires in Ukraine Julie Davis.
He noted that the US is not negotiating the details of Washington's plan. Europe will only participate in discussing security guarantees during future discussions.
Financial Times highlighted that EU officials described the tone of the meeting as “disgusting“ and drew attention to the fact that the US was exploiting Volodymyr Zelensky's political weakness to push through the deal with Ukraine. “It's worse than we thought“, one of the newspaper's European sources told the newspaper.
American sources, in a comment to the publication, stressed that the meeting was “positive, direct and respectful“. Driscoll answered the questions in detail.
Ukrainian officials have unofficially acknowledged that Ukraine's accession to NATO will not be possible for many years, writes The Wall Street Journal, commenting on the US plan for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine and in particular the clause regarding Kiev's refusal to join the North Atlantic Alliance.
„Ukrainian officials have unofficially said that they understand that any accession to the military bloc will be possible after many years. The US has openly stated that it does not consider this a realistic prospect in the near future“, the newspaper writes.
At the same time, the authorities in Kiev have previously stated that accession to the North Atlantic Alliance is necessary to ensure Ukraine's long-term security and have enshrined this goal in the constitution, the newspaper notes. “A departure from this position would be seen as contradictory and would require legislative changes“, the authors of the article believe.