White House Rejects Putin's Proposal for UN-Backed Temporary Government in Ukraine

The Trump administration has rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s suggestion to establish a temporary government in Ukraine under the supervision of the United Nations and multiple countries, Reuters reported on March 28.

Putin proposed that a transitional administration could be formed in Ukraine to oversee elections, describing this as one potential option. He argued that such a precedent exists within the U.N.’s operations and could facilitate a settlement in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council dismissed the proposal, reaffirming that Ukraine’s government is determined by its constitution and its citizens. Ukraine’s constitution explicitly prohibits elections while martial law is in effect, a measure that has been in place since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Moscow has consistently questioned the legitimacy of President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s sovereignty. However, Freedom House classifies Russia itself as a consolidated authoritarian regime with controlled elections. Under Putin’s leadership, political opposition has been systematically suppressed through imprisonment, exile, or other forms of silencing. The death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison in February 2024 remains under suspicious circumstances.

In Russia, opposition candidates are barred from running, dissenters face harsh crackdowns, and critics are branded as "foreign agents." Meanwhile, Putin has claimed that Ukraine’s current leadership is illegitimate due to the absence of elections, asserting that a government "trusted by the people" should be installed under international oversight.

Despite recent talks of ceasefires, Russia has continued its attacks. On March 27, Russian forces struck energy infrastructure in Kherson, despite Ukraine adhering to a March 25 agreement to halt strikes on such facilities. Russia had previously claimed it had stopped targeting energy sites since March 18.

While the U.S. has been facilitating negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Moscow has made extensive demands in ceasefire talks. Ukraine has already agreed to a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire, stating on March 11 that it was prepared to implement it if Russia reciprocated. However, Russia has refused to do so.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has temporarily restored funding to a program tracking the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia, after initially cutting the initiative, Reuters reported on March 27.

The program, operated by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab under the State Department’s Conflict Observatory, had used biometric data and satellite imagery to document cases of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia. According to Ukraine’s Children of War database, at least 19,500 children have been abducted since the invasion began, with only about 1,200 returned.

The U.S.-funded research at Yale played a key role in identifying these cases, but access to the database was lost when the contract was terminated, disrupting evidence collection for war crimes investigations. A State Department spokesperson confirmed that short-term funding had been approved to ensure the proper transfer of essential data to relevant authorities.

This comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to cut funding for various foreign aid programs, describing them as wasteful. These reductions have impacted international efforts to hold Russia accountable, including war crimes investigations related to Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, over the deportation of Ukrainian children.

In ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Russia, the return of kidnapped Ukrainian children remains a key issue. U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Walz has stated that this matter is part of the confidence-building measures being discussed. Ukrainian officials have also emphasized that the return of abducted children is a fundamental condition for any future peace agreement with Russia.