Ukraine plan

Russia "certainly" won't agree to parts of Trump's Ukraine plan, security expert says

From CNN's Billy Stockwell

The Trump administration’s 28-point plan for Ukraine has parts that Russia “certainly won’t agree to,” with Moscow having “every incentive” to drag out the negotiation process, according to a former director at the National Security Council.

“There are elements of this the Russians certainly won’t agree to. There are elements the Ukrainians won’t agree to. But the Russians have every incentive to play this along,” Jeffrey Edmonds, former director for Russia at the National Security Council, told CNN on Monday.

“There’s no incentive for them to actually agree to this, but there’s every incentive for them to drag it along,” he said.

Asked what could push Russia toward some form of peace agreement, Edmonds said, “you have to change the Kremlin’s calculus on whether or not they can achieve their goals in Ukraine … That is the only thing that’s ultimately going to bring them to the table.”

He said the situation on Ukraine’s front line was “not great,” but they were “not ready to fold.”