Washington refuses to demand territorial concessions from Kyiv to Russia, FT reports

Shift in Washington's approach to territorial issues

The United States no longer intends to insist that Ukraine agrees to territorial concessions in favour of Russia during the negotiation process. This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.

Previously, the American side linked the provision of future security guarantees to Kyiv with the necessity of transferring land plots to Moscow. However, as FT notes, Washington has already made it clear that it will not demand such concessions from Ukraine at the negotiating table.

Prospects for trilateral consultations

According to the publication, the US hopes to achieve progress during trilateral negotiations with Ukraine, which are scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi next month. These are set to be the first such meetings since February.

One of the main topics will be possible security guarantees for both sides after the end of hostilities. Meanwhile, according to sources, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has not yet shown signs of readiness to soften his negotiating position.

Earlier, negotiations had reached a dead end because Ukraine opposed the Russian demand to agree to territorial concessions as a precondition for talks.

"Dmitriev's plan was to wait for the war to end, but time is passing and the war is not stopping, so they decided to move forward now," an FT interlocutor said.

Economic agreements between Washington and Moscow

In parallel, Washington and Moscow are discussing a number of possible economic deals. According to FT, the US has already signed an agreement on the import of Russian diesel fuel, suspended the implementation of new sanctions on the export of Russian energy carriers, and pressured Ukraine to stop drone strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Current discussions are based on proposals that US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner previously discussed with Vladimir Putin's special representative Kirill Dmitriev. The latter assessed the potential value of such projects at $14 trillion.

List of projects under discussion

Among the ideas being considered by Washington and Moscow are:

• the sale of Lukoil's international assets to investors linked to the White House;
• the participation of Russian Novatek in a LNG project in Alaska;
• the possible resumption of gas supplies to Europe via surviving sections of the Nord Stream;
• the easing of sanctions on Russian potash fertilisers.

Another proposal envisages transferring the management of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to an American company, which would distribute the generated electricity between Ukraine and Russia.

Reaction of European diplomats

European diplomats are against easing sanctions and concluding major economic deals with Russia before the end of the war. They emphasise that decisions affecting EU interests cannot be made without Europe's participation.

One European diplomat expressed doubt that economic incentives would be sufficient to force Vladimir Putin to stop the war.

"It is not about money. It is about humiliation and control," he stressed.