US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had planned to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Türkiye on 19 November to discuss a new peace plan, but the meeting did not take place because the Ukrainian president arrived with a different plan.

Source: Axios, citing sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: A US official told Axios that Witkoff had planned to visit Ankara on Wednesday 19 November for a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The official stated that the meeting was postponed once it became clear that Zelenskyy was not interested in discussing the US plan. The US official said Zelenskyy had travelled to Ankara with another plan, drawn up with Ukraine's European partners, which Russia will never accept.

A Ukrainian official said the meeting has been postponed because Zelenskyy has requested that the plan be discussed in a broader format that would involve European countries.

Another US official pointed to the domestic political scandal in Ukraine resulting from a corruption investigation into people close to Zelenskyy as a further reason for postponing the talks.

The official said US President Donald Trump had authorised Witkoff to try to reach a deal with Zelenskyy in Türkiye and supported his decision to cancel the meeting with the Ukrainian president.

"We are now going to wait. The ball is in Zelenskyy's court," the US official said, adding that Zelenskyy is welcome to travel to Washington to discuss the new US plan if he wishes.

Background:

• The Financial Times reported earlier that the new 28-point US "peace plan" to end the war in Ukraine envisages, among other things, handing all of Donbas to Russia, cutting the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in half, and recognising Russian as a state language.
• Axios reported that the 28-point plan was drawn up by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
• The White House has said it is hopeful of agreeing a framework to end the Russo-Ukrainian war by the end of the month.

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