Europe has extended an invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to rejoin the G8 as part of a peace deal aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia was expelled from the political group in 2017 following its annexation of Crimea, but a shift occurred on Sunday in Geneva when the offer was made.
This proposal is one of several concessions put forward by European leaders in a counter-proposal, reflecting the U.S.-Russia-backed peace deal leaked last week.
The plan, which was assisted in drafting by British officials, suggests that Russia will be “progressively re-integrated into the global economy.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters, “I think this is a very, very meaningful, I would say, probably best meeting and day we’ve had so far in this entire process, going back to when we first came to office in January.”, reports the Express US.
The counter-deal was agreed upon after President Donald Trump criticised Ukraine for showing “zero gratitude” towards America’s efforts to end the war.
“I inherited a war that should have never happened – a war that is a loser for everyone, especially the millions of people that have so needlessly died,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Ukraine ‘leadership’ has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts, and Europe continues to buy oil from Russia. The USA continues to sell massive amounts of weapons to NATO for distribution to Ukraine.”
Following Trump’s harsh statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his personal gratitude to Trump on Sunday.
“Ukraine is grateful to the United States, to every American heart, and personally to President Trump for the assistance that – starting with the Javelins – has been saving Ukrainian lives,” he wrote on X.
State Secretary Marco Rubio called the offer ‘very meaningful’ (Image: Getty)
Europe agrees to limit Ukraine’s military
The European counter-proposal suggested that Kyiv’s forces should be capped at 800,000, compared to the 600,000 limit proposed by Trump in his peace plan.
This represents a significant rise from three years ago, when Moscow proposed that Ukraine maintain a peacetime army of 85,000 during peace negotiations in Istanbul.
The counter-proposal emerges as Europe seeks to secure favourable terms for Ukraine, following Trump’s deal, which seemed to heavily favour the Kremlin.
Lawmakers warn Trump
Meanwhile, another group of European lawmakers has cautioned Trump that accepting Russia’s demands would be “morally reprehensible” in a letter sent to the Kyiv Independent.
Zia Yusuf grilled on Farage’s comments about Putin
The 47 signatures, reportedly from parliaments from Ireland to North Macedonia, wrote: “Any appeasement of Russia as the aggressor, any attempts at putting pressure on Ukraine as the victim of this aggression, is morally reprehensible and an outrage against human decency. To bow before Russia is to abandon shared values and plunge the free world into anarchy and chaos.
“Strong American leadership is the only hope. A cowed America can never be great again; a cowed America can never be first.”
The letter cited a famous phrase used by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan: “We win, they lose.
“As you well know, Russia is waging a brutal and illegal war of unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, Europe and, by extension, the United States as leader of the free world. The goal is to seize territory in violation of international law, obliterate Ukraine’s statehood, re-establish hegemony over Europe and overthrow U.-led rules-based order,” the letter continued.
In what seemed to be a veiled reference to Taiwan, the authors added: “The world is watching what happens in Ukraine – countries under threat of authoritarian regimes will succumb to further aggression if Russia is not defeated in Ukraine.”
