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President Zelensky and Donald Trump (Image: GETTY)
Ukrainian President has two major “red lines” that he does not want to cross as part of any future peace deal – and one of them is in defiance of the administration. ‘s delegation at Tuesday’s peace talks with the US in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, made clear to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Kyiv would not accept limits to the size of its military or restrictions on which political institutions it could join, including NATO, sources close to the meeting told .
“For , there are red lines — including that there can be no restrictions on the size of the defence forces and no prohibitions on ’s participation in international organisations, including the EU and . The issue of NATO also came up in remarks by [Zelensky Chief of Staff Andriy] Yermak, stressing that must not have a veto right,” the source told then outlet. The NATO red line contravenes the American position, as set out by the Trump administration. US President ‘s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said in February that he “does not believe that NATO membership for is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement”.
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Putin’s ceasefire sticking points undermine hopes of temporary truce
yesterday said a ceasefire deal between and was “correct” but added that Moscow would not sign up to anything that would allow Kyiv to rearm and regroup.
Raising ‘s offensive into ‘s Kursk region, Mr Putin suggested he would not accept a deal that allowed President Zelensky’s troops to hold onto the Russian territory it currently occupies. He said the Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk Oblast, which the Kremlin suggests are close to encirclement, could be made to “surrender or die”.
“If we stop hostilities for 30 days, what does that mean? That everyone who is there will go out without a fight?” Putin asked. “How will supervision [of the ceasefire] be organised? These are all serious questions.”
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