The White House has reportedly proposed recognizing Russian control of Crimea as part of a framework peace plan to bring Russia’s war against Ukraine to an end.
According to CNN, that offer was shared with Ukrainian and other European leaders during a Thursday meeting in Paris that included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and Joseph Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine.
“They presented this framework to try and drive forth an end to the Russia-Ukraine war,” CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood said Friday on OutFront, after having delved into Witkoff’s role in the matter earlier in the day.
“And we should note that we’re now learning some more details of what was actually in that framework. I’m told, according to an official familiar with the framework that was put on the table, that the Trump administration—the U.S.—is ready to recognize Russian control of Crimea,” Atwood said.
Russia occupied Crimea by force in 2014. Since then, Ukrainians there have had to vote at gunpoint—a violation of international law. The international community still recognizes the region as belonging to Ukraine.
“The U.S. would be prepared to actually recognize Russia’s control of that area as part of this initial framework,” Atwood emphasized.
The overall proposal, which Atwood said would also freeze the front lines of the war, “isn’t fully baked yet.”
“There’s a meeting that’s going to happen next week in London, and that’s where U.S. officials will be talking with the Ukrainians again about the contours of this framework,” she said.
“I’m also told that there are plans for Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy—who has met with President Putin now three times—to have another meeting with the Russians in the coming days or the coming week.”
Rubio, the day after the Paris gathering, threatened that the U.S. could walk away from negotiations soon.
“If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on,” he told reporters Friday. “We need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable.”
At the time, Rubio declined to mention details about any proposed plan.
“When you start negotiating these things through the media,” he said, “they fall apart.”
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