On December 8, former White House adviser Steve Bannon called on the US to cut off all arms flows to Ukraine via NATO to facilitate the implementation of the peace plan that Washington is pursuing.
In an interview with local media, Mr. Bannon said that the peace plan proposed by the Trump administration in November would not be feasible as long as Ukraine had access to US weapons.
In addition to weapons, Bannon stressed that Washington also needs to end financial support and share intelligence. We need to cut everything off, said the former White House adviser.
Despite the same view, Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago believes that a cut-off in support is unlikely, and the US could even be dragged deeper into the conflict.
President Trump does not want to simply stop aid to accelerate the end of the conflict, although he understands that Ukraine has little chance of winning, Mearsheimer said.
The reason is that Trump does not want to be blamed for any potential failures of Kiev. Therefore, the US is likely to maintain sufficient aid to prove that Washington and its European allies have supported Ukraine to the end.
The 28-point plan to resolve the Ukrainian conflict proposed by Washington at the end of November has faced criticism from Western countries. The plan requires Kiev to transfer more territory, accept military limits and give up joining NATO.
The plan was later dropped to 19 points, adjusted to the stance of both Moscow and Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assessed many amendments as reasonable, but affirmed that sensitive issues need to be discussed directly with Mr. Trump.
On November 30, US and Ukrainian officials continued negotiations in Florida for 3 days, focusing on the end of the conflict, long-term security and economic solutions, the ability to hold elections in Ukraine and territorial issues.
As of December 3, several US representatives, including US presidential special advisor Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, businessman Jared Kushner, have arrived in Moscow to continue discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, the meeting aimed to find a solution to the Ukrainian conflict in a "constructive and substantial" manner. The sides discussed a number of peace options and agreed to maintain communication.
