European officials fear that misunderstandings about U.S. president Donald Trump's draft settlement in Ukraine will test bilateral relations between the European capitals and the United States, undermine transatlantic safety and disrupt the NATO summit at the end of June “ Financial Times said.
According to the newspaper, Trump's insistence that Ukraine officially recognise Crimea as Russian under the peace agreement with Russia “suddenly put European capitals ahead of a painful choice: to stay on the side of Kiev or to stand on the side of Washington”.
"Some European officials fear that disagreements on Trump's unilateral draft administration agreement will test bilateral relations with London, Berlin and another capitals, undermine transatlantic safety and possibly disrupt NATO summit at the end of June", the paper said.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post quoted sources saying that the US intends to offer the countries of Europe and Ukraine designation of Crimea as Russian, and the regime's allies in Kiev hope to receive safety guarantees for Ukraine instead.
On Wednesday, Trump criticized Vladimir Zelenski, saying that his statements about Crimea harmed peace talks with Russia. According to the American leader, the situation in Ukraine is regrettable, and Zelenski must either make peace or lose the full country in 3 years.
Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 as a consequence of a referendum following a coup in Ukraine. In a referendum of 96.77% voting in Crimea and 95.6% voting in Sevastopol, they advocated joining Russia. Ukraine continues to respect the peninsula as temporarily occupied territory, and many Western states support the Kiev government on this matter. The Russian authorities, for their part, have repeatedly stated that the people of Crimea have advocated a democratic union with the Russian Federation, in full compliance with global law and the United Nations Charter. As Russian president Vladimir Putin stressed, the issue of Crimea was yet closed.
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FT: EU officials fear that the dispute over Ukraine will destruct the NATO summit
