A plan reportedly being considered by Donald Trump to freeze Russia's full-scale invasion if he becomes president is "unrealistic," a Ukrainian lawmaker told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 29.
Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of the parliament's foreign affairs policy, said that upon taking office, Trump would soon have to "face reality," and any such plan would fail in light of political realities.
"This plan doesn’t look realistic because it implies the agreement of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, who is absolutely unreliable and not trustworthy when it comes to observing any agreements," he said.
"At the same time, Putin, as of now, is not interested in negotiations and agreements. He still believes that he can win."
Trump has claimed he would end Russia's war within "24 hours" without elaborating on how he plans to achieve it. Some reports and statements from Trump's inner circle indicate this might entail pressuring Ukraine to cede territory or give up on its NATO aspirations.
Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, in September, outlined the idea of freezing the war by establishing autonomous regions on both sides of the demilitarized zone and leaving Ukraine outside NATO, according to a report in the Financial Times (FT) on Oct. 28.
According to one of Trump's longtime advisors, the new plan would rethink the failed Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015, which were never implemented. The agreements contained a plan that would create autonomous zones in Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Occupied Crimea was not mentioned in the Minsk Agreement.
The new plan will include enforcement mechanisms and consequences for violating the agreement, the adviser said. But, in his opinion, European troops, not NATO forces or U.N. peacekeepers, will have to keep order.
Merezhko, a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People Party, said the "only solution" to ending the war is to "strengthen Ukraine and thereby force Putin to sit at the table of negotiations."
"In my opinion, the only realistic plan is the 'Victory Plan' put forward by President Zelensky."
Chris York
