Portuguese prime minister Luís Montenegro said today that the United States’ plan for peace in Ukraine ‘does not meet minimum requirements’.
It is a basis, he conceded, but “very insufficient for what the European objectives are”.
Speaking to journalists in Luanda (Angola) – and referring to the meeting of European leaders convened by António Costa on the sidelines of the AU-EU summit – the PM highlighted the need for Europe to ‘quickly reflect’ on the plan, which is what does appear to be happening (see below).
Mr Montenegro stressed that all mediation efforts are positive. “The mediation of the United States, the participation of the United States in a peace process is welcome,” he added, albeit “interaction with Europe is mandatory.”
“Europe has every interest in being an active part of this process, and that is what we will try to do tomorrow at the meeting that has been convened for this purpose,” he said.
The goal will be “to develop these bases of agreement in order to safeguard the interests of Europe and also the interests of Ukraine, which, in my opinion, are not being properly safeguarded” in the 28-point plan drawn up by the government of US President Donald Trump and then ‘leaked’ to the world press.
With Donald Trump returning today to the complaint that Ukraine’s leaders have “not shown gratitude” for US help this far, here, presidential front-runner Luís Marques Mendes has underscored feelings about this plan already expressed by President Marcelo. It is a prize for the aggressor, and an injustice for Ukrainians, he told a lunch in Pombal with around 500 supporters today.
“If Ukraine loses this war, it is Europe that stands to lose (…) and the security of Europe could be at stake…” This is of course why Europe has to be included in any establishing of terms.
Marques Mendes told his audience that the 28 points as they appear to stand (per the leaks) are just “not possible, healthy or desirable (…) Ukrainians are people who would rather break than bend. Europeans are people of values, and I believe that in the coming days, in the various meetings that are already taking place and in the negotiations that will be held, truth and reason will prevail.”
To add to the surreality of the US plan, a group of senators has claimed that secretary of state Marco Rubio confirmed to them that the plan is a document ‘leaked by Russia’, and not in fact a plan devised by the United States at all…
Source: SIC Notícias/ CNN / x.com
