President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned yesterday that Ukraine risked losing its dignity and freedom – or Washington’s backing – over a US peace plan that endorses key Russian demands, a proposal Donald Trump said Kyiv should accept within a week.
The US president told Fox News Radio he believed Thursday was an appropriate deadline for Kyiv to accept the plan.
Trump later told reporters that time was short given the approaching winter and need to end the bloodshed and that Zelenskiy would have to approve the plan.
“He’ll have to like it, and if he doesn’t like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess,” he said.
“At some point he’s going to have to accept something he hasn’t accepted,” Trump said.
Recalling his fractious February meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump added: “You remember right in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, ‘You don’t have the cards.’”
Washington’s 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits to its military and renounce ambitions to join Nato. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who has previously refused to budge on Russia’s key territorial and security demands, said yesterday the US plan could be the basis of a final resolution of the nearly four-year-old conflict. He said Kyiv was against the plan but neither it nor its European allies understood the reality of Russian advances in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy, who has rejected the plan’s terms in the past as capitulation, appealed to Ukrainians for unity and said he would never betray Ukraine.
“Now, Ukraine can face a very difficult choice – either losing dignity or risk losing a major partner,” he said in a speech to the nation, adding: “I will fight 24/7 to ensure that at least two points in the plan are not overlooked – the dignity and freedom of Ukrainians.”
Two sources told Reuters Washington had threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons supplies to Ukraine if it does not accept the deal.
A senior US official later said it was not accurate to say the US threatened to withhold intelligence.
In public, Zelenskiy has appeared careful not to reject the US plan or offend the Americans.
He spoke yesterday with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France, and later with US Vice President JD Vance. He said he had agreed with Vance to have their advisers work “to find a workable path to peace”.
“We value the efforts of the United States, President Trump, and his team aimed at ending this war,” Zelenskiy said. “We are working on the document prepared by the American side. This must be a plan that ensures a real and dignified peace.” A poor deal for Ukraine could test the stability of its society after nearly four years of relentless warfare.
“Russia gets everything it wants and Ukraine gets not very much,” said Tim Ash of Britain’s Chatham House think tank. “If Zelenskiy accepts this, I anticipate huge political, social and economic instability in Ukraine.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on X he held “a good and confidential phone call” with Trump about the peace plan yesterday evening. They “agreed on the next steps at the advisers’ level,” he said.
The plan is expected to dominate discussions on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg that European leaders are attending this weekend despite a boycott by Trump.
Sources told Reuters Ukraine was working on a counter-proposal to the 28-point plan with Britain, France and Germany. The Europeans have not been consulted on the US plan and have expressed strong support for Kyiv.
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