US proposes to make Zaporizhzhia NPP "neutral"

Ukraine is under pressure this week to respond to a series of far-reaching ideas from the Trump administration on how to end the war in Ukraine, including potential U.S. recognition of Russia's 2014 occupation of Crimea and Kyiv's refusal to join NATO.

The publication notes that, according to Western officials, these ideas were outlined in a confidential document presented by senior officials of US President Donald Trump's administration to their Ukrainian counterparts in Paris on April 17.

They were also shared with senior European officials at a daytime meeting.

The US is now awaiting Kyiv's response, which is expected to come at a meeting of US, Ukrainian and European officials in London later this week. Then, if there is convergence between the American, European and Ukrainian positions, proposals can be sent to Moscow.

To put pressure on Ukraine and Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on April 18 that the administration may suspend its negotiating efforts if progress is not made on key issues within the next few weeks.

US diplomatic pressure is aimed at paving the way for a ceasefire along current battle lines and a resolution to Russia's war against Ukraine.

On April 20, a senior U.S. State Department official called the ideas presented to the Ukrainians options for Kyiv to consider, not “accept or reject.” The official said that “a list of potential options” had been provided “for discussion and feedback.”

In 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served under the first Trump administration, condemned Russia's annexation of Crimea as a threat to "a fundamental international principle shared by democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another country by force."

The US Congress has passed a law opposing US recognition of Russia's occupation of Crimea.

Another US idea, according to Western officials, involves designating the area around the Zaporizhzhia NPP as neutral territory that could be under American control.

In March, during a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump raised the issue of acquiring Ukrainian power plants, including nuclear facilities, calling it "the best protection for this infrastructure."

WSJ suggests that the ZNPP will likely supply electricity to both Ukrainian territory and the occupied regions that the Russian Federation seized after the 2022 invasion and still holds.