Why has Russia rejected Trump’s Ukraine truce plan?

Vladimir Putin and top Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov have said a deferral in Ukraine’s NATO entry won’t be enough.

Russia has trashed a plan pitched by US President-elect Donald Trump’s team to end the Russia-Ukraine war by deferring Kyiv’s NATO membership in exchange for a ceasefire, according to Russian state-owned media.

Trump’s win in the November presidential election, his repeated criticism of Ukraine and United States funding for Kyiv, and his promise to end the war within a day, once in power, have prompted concerns among NATO allies about the compromises he might demand of Ukraine.

But the Kremlin’s rejection of what is reportedly a key element of the proposal forwarded by Trump’s team for a truce underscores warnings from some analysts who have cautioned against assuming that Russia is necessarily guaranteed an end to the war on its terms.

So what is Trump’s proposal for peace in Ukraine, what has Russia rejected – and why?

Trump has been careful not to reveal much about his plan. “I can’t give you those plans because if I give you those plans, I’m not going to be able to use them. They’ll be unsuccessful. Part of it’s surprise,” Trump said in a podcast interview with Lex Fridman in September.