The U.S. draft peace plan – which Kyiv has already rejected – would trade formal recognition of Moscow’s sovereignty over the peninsula for a cease-fire and Western security guarantees, the paper said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated this week that Ukraine “will not accept Russian control over any Ukrainian territory”.
European officials told the FT they would not endorse any move to legitimize the annexation or pressure Ukraine into doing so.
“Crimea and Kyiv’s future NATO path are red lines for us,” one diplomat said, adding that unilateral recognition by Washington would “reward Russia and shatter EU unity”.
Tensions sharpened after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cancelled his attendance at Wednesday’s London meeting of U.S., UK, French and Ukrainian envoys; Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff is instead heading to Moscow for further talks, the paper said.
EU governments fear the rift could undermine June’s NATO summit and wider trans-Atlantic security cooperation. A senior EU official warned that if Washington strikes a deal over Kyiv’s head, “Europe would have to choose” between its American ally and Ukrainian sovereignty.
European leaders are expected to press the White House to drop the Crimea clause when they meet U.S. counterparts in the coming weeks, the FT added.
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Source: PAP, The Financial Times