Norwegian government officials quickly joined their colleagues around Europe during the weekend in rejecting US President Donald Trump’s proposal for peace between Ukraine and Russia. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called the US’ first draft of the plan “unacceptable,” and expected major revisions as negotiations began in Geneva.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Norway will continue to support Ukraine in all ways it can, until Ukraine can accept a peace plan it can live with. This photo was taken during Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky’s most recent visit to Oslo in October. PHOTO: Torbjørn Kjosvold / Forsvaret
“I think Russia has managed to get things into the plan that are right out of their own interests,” Støre told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Sunday. “It’s all about Ukraine without Ukraine having been part of it. That’s unacceptable.”
At the same time, Støre said he wasn’t surprised by Trump’s first draft of a peace proposal. “This is beginning to be a familiar pattern,” said Støre, a former career diplomat. “First comes a very powerful proposal, followed by adjustments. There’s a lot in the plan that’s far from anything acceptable, and which should also be completely against American interests.”
Trump, for example, has proposed confirmation of Ukraine’s sovereignty but only after Ukraine gives up territory to Russia in the east including Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk. Ukraine could join the EU but not NATO, and no NATO troops could be stationed in Ukraine, which also would have to dramatically reduce its own armed forces and defense capability. Ukraine would be offered security guarantees, but they are unclear.
Some of the 28 points in Trump’s plan border on the incredible, like one calling for “a dialogue between Russia and NATO … with the US as mediator.” Since the US is NATO’s largest member it could hardly be impartial and should be firmly on NATO’s side, not Russia’s. Trump’s plan would also only lead to a ceasefire, with both sides pulling back to begin its implementation.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide responded on national radio Saturday morning that “there must be peace at some point, and no one wants peace more than the Ukrainians themselves. But the peace must be fair and it must last, not just lead to a pause in the fighting.”
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June and they were all smiles. On Sunday Rubio felt obliged to issue a statement confirming that the “peace proposal was authored by the US” and not Russia, after massive international criticism that it favours Russia. PHOTO: Utenriksdepartementet
Eide said there was “no doubt” that many of the points in the plan are things that have “been high on the Russian’s wish-list through the entire war,” which began after Russia invaded Ukraine. There’s massive support for Ukraine in both Norway and the rest of Europe, with many officials stressing that Russia can’t be rewarded for its aggression dating back to its invasion of Ukraine’s territory on the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine itself in February 2022.
Eide said he was aware that also many members of the US Congress and Senate oppose and were blasting the plan, even before many started speaking out forcefully during the weekend. “We register that there is widespread unease” in the US over Trump’s plan, Eide said, also among the US’ allies in NATO.
Norway has been among the biggest contributors to Ukraine’s defense efforts. As one of the many countries bordering on Russia, Norway has also been part of a major military build-up both at home, in the Baltic countries and Poland because of the threat Russia poses not just to Ukraine. Norwegian media were blasting Trump’s peace plan, claiming he’s trying to pressure Ukraine into capitulation, that he’s wants Russia to win and that his plan has nothing to do with peace. “This is no peace plan,” wrote commentator Halvor Hegtun in Norway’s largest newspaper Aftenposten on Saturday, adding that Trump “instead is going in for Russia to win its war and for Ukraine to lose.”
Støre and Eide have been involved in several meetings this past week with other leaders at the EU and NATO, also at the recent G20 meeting in South Africa that Støre was invited to attend. They’re keen to contribute to all efforts to work towards a peace plan that Ukraine could accept. Eide likened the coming days to “a week of destiny” for all of Europe, when US officials meet Ukrainian and European leaders in Geneva.
“Ukraine needs all the support it can get from European countries, that’s important,” Støre told NRK on Sunday. “It’s also important for us Europeans because the outcome of the war affects not just life in Ukraine but the entire security situation in all of Europe afterwards.”
Trump, meanwhile, was further insulting and scolding Ukraine on Sunday, claiming Ukrainian leaders hadn’t shown enough gratitude for US efforts to end the war. He also criticized other European countries for continuing to buy oil from Russia, even though he has personally supported Hungary’s ongoing purchases. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky had already expressed frustration and sadness over Trump’s proposal, claiming that his country faces a “very difficult choice” between losing its dignity or losing a central partner, the US.
Støre clearly doesn’t think Trump’s initial deadline of acceptance or rejection by Thursday of this week is realistic. “Landing a peace pact that is fair and long-lasting will be very complicated,” Støre said. “It’s not something you can do just by setting a deadline one day in the next week.” On Sunday night, his foreign minister Eide reported progress at the talks between Ukraine and the US in Geneva: He’d been in touch with his Ukrainian counterpart who reported “substantial discussions around all the points in this Trump plan.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
