European countries and Ukraine have responded to the "Russian ceasefire plan" with a counterproposal, which, in their opinion, should form the basis for upcoming negotiations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Source:The Wall Street Journal with reference to two informed European officials, as reported by European Pravda

Details:The proposal from Kyiv and its allies calls for a mandatory ceasefire before any other steps are taken, as well as any "exchange of territories" only on a mutual basis – that is, if Ukraine withdraws its troops from some regions, Russia must withdraw its troops from others, writes the WSJ.

"You can’t start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting," one of the publication's sources said.

In addition, this plan stipulates that any territorial concessions by Kyiv must be backed by ironclad security guarantees – in particular, Ukraine's potential membership in NATO, the article says.

WSJ sources say the goal of the plan is for Europe and Ukraine to establish a common red line that should apply to any potential negotiations with Russia.

This proposal was presented on Saturday at a meeting of national security advisers. The American side was represented by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.

European representatives told them that Ukraine's future cannot be discussed without Ukraine and that Europe will continue to provide Ukraine with weapons and funds regardless of the US position, one source told the WSJ.

Background:Amid news of the upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska on 15 August, as well as media claims that Washington and Moscow want to reach an agreement to end the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia's occupation of part of the territories seized during its full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "the answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already there in the Constitution of Ukraine".

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