The White House denies the quote; it does not appear to come from an official source. So let's set that aside.
Is this reasonable? In some ways it's better than the situation at the start of the war, where Russia had simply annexed that area. The world didn't get especially exercised over Russia's prior invasion, and I don't think it wants to support Ukraine in re-conquering that territory.
If that was all they wanted, they could have had that three years ago. Instead they have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars.
Ukraine will not be happy about getting zero reparations for that. But they might accept it if it means ending this pointless war.
It will have to include some kind of reassurances that Russia isn't just going to gear up and try again in a few years. The best solution for that would be joining NATO -- which Hungary won't allow. But if they can be cajoled into letting Ukraine join the EU, it would depend on whether Putin could spin that as a win.
Ukraine could also just reject this out of hand, for having been done without their involvement. The US can threaten to pull all support, but the US is an unreliable ally anyway, and Ukraine would rather forge on without it.
If I was Ukrainian, I'd look at how Israel manages the West Bank, and I'd say "not just no, but hell no" to something like that. The EU should be reluctant to have a West Bank next door. Look at Jordan's problems with the West Bank over the years.
I don't think Ukrainians are a consulted group in this purported proposal. The main draw seems to be convenience for the Russians, who would also get to hide behind an Israeli shield and call any criticism of the proposed system antisemitic.
The complete lack of any reliable public statements make me think the whole article is just flamebait though. The current situation still has a long way to go towards any type of resolution, and no matter how much Trump wants a Nobel he's not going to get there by repeating the same "talk to Putin, talk to Zelensky, threaten one side, then the other" routine. A peace deal will only come if the main parties to the conflict have real negotiations and not just statements of positions with no room for maneuver or consideration for compromise. I don't see anyone trying to push either side in that direction, so it looks as though the fighting will continue.
The White House denies the quote; it does not appear to come from an official source. So let's set that aside.
Is this reasonable? In some ways it's better than the situation at the start of the war, where Russia had simply annexed that area. The world didn't get especially exercised over Russia's prior invasion, and I don't think it wants to support Ukraine in re-conquering that territory.
If that was all they wanted, they could have had that three years ago. Instead they have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars.
Ukraine will not be happy about getting zero reparations for that. But they might accept it if it means ending this pointless war.
It will have to include some kind of reassurances that Russia isn't just going to gear up and try again in a few years. The best solution for that would be joining NATO -- which Hungary won't allow. But if they can be cajoled into letting Ukraine join the EU, it would depend on whether Putin could spin that as a win.
Ukraine could also just reject this out of hand, for having been done without their involvement. The US can threaten to pull all support, but the US is an unreliable ally anyway, and Ukraine would rather forge on without it.
The West Bank is of course a horrible model for any society, including the West Bank.
If I was Ukrainian, I'd look at how Israel manages the West Bank, and I'd say "not just no, but hell no" to something like that. The EU should be reluctant to have a West Bank next door. Look at Jordan's problems with the West Bank over the years.
I don't think Ukrainians are a consulted group in this purported proposal. The main draw seems to be convenience for the Russians, who would also get to hide behind an Israeli shield and call any criticism of the proposed system antisemitic.
The complete lack of any reliable public statements make me think the whole article is just flamebait though. The current situation still has a long way to go towards any type of resolution, and no matter how much Trump wants a Nobel he's not going to get there by repeating the same "talk to Putin, talk to Zelensky, threaten one side, then the other" routine. A peace deal will only come if the main parties to the conflict have real negotiations and not just statements of positions with no room for maneuver or consideration for compromise. I don't see anyone trying to push either side in that direction, so it looks as though the fighting will continue.