The end of the war? Putin urgently sent "his man" to America

Russian President is reportedly ready to divide the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in order to end the war that began in February 2022, writes the Daily Mail.

Although under sanctions, Kolokoltsev was allowed to enter the US, ostensibly to attend a meeting of UN police commanders. But it was only a ploy to allow him to travel to Washington on a plane from Putin's presidential fleet and convey Putin's demands for a peace treaty to the US government.

His trip to the US and Putin's message were separately reported by leading Ukrainian TV journalist Dmitry Gordon and Russian Telegram channel Gosdumskaya. Ukraine will probably not accept Putin's proposal, because according to it, it would have to cede huge parts of the occupied territory and give up joining NATO.

However, this proposal by Putin represents a concession in relation to earlier ideas.

"The main purpose of Kolokoltsev's trip was to hand over the Russian peace plan to the American authorities," Gordon said, adding that it was Putin's plan "to end the war."

Under this plan, Putin demands that Ukraine withdraw completely from the occupied regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, but Russia would hand over the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the nearby city of Enerhodar to Ukraine.

The possible return of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions to Ukrainian control would also be discussed. The Crimean peninsula would become a "special demilitarized administrative area under the dual authority of Ukraine and the Russian Federation," and Ukraine would have to commit not to block Crimea's water supply.

Putin seized Crimea in 2014 and promised that the Black Sea peninsula would never again belong to Ukraine. According to the Russian peace proposal, Ukraine would control a "demilitarized zone" along the Dnieper River of about 100 kilometers.

The country would also be barred from joining NATO – one of President Volodymyr Zelensky's key goals – but would be allowed to join the European Union.

On the other hand, the West would lift sanctions on Russia related to oil, gas and the banking sector.

Reports by Dmitry Gordon and the Russian Telegram channel Gosdumskaya differ in their claims about the size of the army Ukraine should retain: Gordon says it is 350,000 troops and Gosdumskaya speculates 150,000. Gordon warns that "Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts cannot be transferred under the control of Ukraine, because that would "cause genocide of the population there", considering that "a third participated in the hostilities against Ukraine".

The USA, Russia and Ukraine did not comment on these allegations, nor Kolokoltsev's visit to the USA. But it is interesting that the plane in which Kolokoltsev was traveling was seen next to the plane of former US President Donald Trump after landing in Washington.

Trump has previously said he would quickly end the war if re-elected US president, and that this would include ceding certain parts of Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for security guarantees unrelated to NATO membership.

Trump has vowed he could quickly end the grueling war if re-elected and hinted Ukraine would cede territory in exchange for security guarantees unrelated to NATO membership.