According to the Financial Times, the administration of US President Donald Trump has indicated to Ukraine that US security guarantees will be conditional on its agreement to a peace deal with Russia.
According to eight sources familiar with the negotiations, this would likely require Kiev to cede Donbas to Russia.
The Financial Times writes that Washington has also signaled its willingness to provide Ukraine with more weapons to strengthen its army in peacetime if Ukraine agrees to withdraw its forces from parts of the eastern region that it still controls.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the US document on security guarantees for Ukraine is "100% ready" and that Kyiv is now waiting for the date and place of its signing.
At the same time, Zelensky insists on the territorial integrity of the state and refuses to give up the unconquered part of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine is increasingly uncertain whether Washington will commit to security guarantees, a senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times, because the US "always stops the signing of security guarantees."
Kyiv wants the guarantees confirmed before it cedes any territory. However, the US believes that Ukraine must give up Donbas for the war to end and is not pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to drop this demand, the report adds.
The White House called the newspaper's report "completely false" and added that it only wants to bring the two sides closer together to reach an agreement.
A person familiar with the US position told the newspaper that Washington "is not trying to force any territorial concessions on Ukraine," adding that security guarantees depend on both sides agreeing to a peace deal.
On Monday, following weekend trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, the Kremlin said that the issue of territory remains a fundamental condition for any agreement to end the fighting.
(reuters, est)