Donald Trump will not be judged "kindly" should he continue with his proposed peace plan between Russia and Ukraine.
The president's team is pushing to end the war in Ukraine but their plan to "reintegrate" Russia into the global economy has become a cause for concern. Documents shared by Politico show the US will "enter into a long-term economic cooperation agreement" with Russia should peace in Ukraine be founded.
The document reads, "The United States will enter into a long-term economic cooperation agreement for mutual development in the areas of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data centers, rare earth metal extraction projects in the Arctic, and other mutually beneficial corporate opportunities."
It's a deal which Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy, has denounced. He said, "I don’t think history will judge kindly any effort to wipe the slate clean for Russian crimes in Ukraine."
"They must be held accountable for those crimes and that will be the approach of the European Union in all of these discussions. Were we to do so, to allow for impunity for those crimes, we would be sowing the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion. And I believe that that would be a historic mistake of huge proportions."
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed he will negotiate with Trump on the US-backed peace plan. The current plan calls on Ukraine to make large concessions to Russia, something Zelenskyy has made clear he is now willing to do.
Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said, "As long as Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory."
Zelenskyy himself will return to the negotiations, as confirmed by The Guardian. He said, "Ukraine needs peace and Ukraine will do everything so that no one in the world can say we are upending diplomacy. This is important."
"The number one task for everyone is a constructive diplomatic process with America and all our partners. It is vital to have stable support for our army and all our planned defence operations and deep strikes."