Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv accepts within days a US-backed \u201cpeace plan\u201d that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions.<\/p>\n
Trump confirmed on Friday morning that next Thursday \u2013 Thanksgiving in the US \u2013 would be an \u201cacceptable\u201d deadline for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a \u201ccapitulation\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a sombre 10-minute speech outside his presidential palace, Zelenskyy said his country had an impossible choice. It could keep its national dignity or risk losing a major partner in the shape of a US administration apparently determined to end the conflict on Moscow\u2019s brutal terms.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the pressure on Ukraine is one of the heaviest,\u201d he said. Its options included agreeing to Trump\u2019s 28-point proposal or \u201can extremely difficult winter\u201d, which has already seen Russia destroy much of the country\u2019s energy infrastructure<\/a>, with millions of people left without heating and in the dark.<\/p>\n Agreeing to the US-Russian plan could leave Ukraine<\/a> \u201cwithout freedom, dignity and justice\u201d, he said. It would also mean believing \u201csomeone who has already attacked us twice\u201d, he said, adding that he would never sacrifice Ukraine\u2019s interests or go against its constitution. \u201cWe did not betray Ukraine then [in 2022], and we will not do so now,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n Speaking on Fox radio, Trump said he thought Thursday was an \u201cappropriate time\u201d for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, and said he believed Ukraine could not prevent Russia\u2019s army from taking the Donbas territories by force. The US president is pursuing an \u201caggressive timeline\u201d to end the conflict, US officials indicated, and intends to heap unprecedented pressure on Kyiv.<\/p>\n Trump is also threatening to cut vital intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine if it fails to agree, reports suggest. On Friday, European leaders pushed back on the proposal, which Ukrainian politicians say is \u201cabsurd\u201d.<\/p>\n The 28-point plan envisages Ukraine giving up the eastern Donbas region \u2013 including areas it currently controls \u2013 and shrinking the size of its army. It rules out the deployment of European peacekeepers and says Kyiv must relinquish long-range weapons and not join Nato.<\/p>\n On Friday, Zelenskyy spoke by telephone with the US vice-president, JD Vance, who has previously pressured Ukraine to make a deal with Russia to end the war as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n Following the hour-long call, Zelenskyy gave a cautious statement that the two sides had \u201cmanaged to cover a lot of details of the American side\u2019s proposals for ending the war, and we\u2019re working to make the path forward dignified and truly effective for achieving a lasting peace\u201d.<\/p>\n Both countries appointed their national security advisers to continue negotiations on the text of the draft peace plan.<\/p>\n Western allies including France\u2019s president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany\u2019s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and Britain\u2019s Keir Starmer<\/a> spoke to Zelenskyy on Friday in a show of solidarity. They reaffirmed their support for Kyiv and said any agreement to end the conflict had to be genuinely fair and take into account Ukraine\u2019s own red lines.<\/p>\n In contrast to the Trump proposal, which calls for Ukraine to abandon several major cities, they said the existing line of contact should be the \u201cstarting point\u201d for territorial discussions. The text also had to take into account Europe and Ukraine\u2019s long-term interests, they stressed.<\/p>\n The British prime minister urged a \u201cjust and lasting peace\u201d. He said: \u201cThat\u2019s what the president of America wants. That\u2019s what we all want, and so we need to work from where we are to that end. But the principle that Ukraine must determine its future under its sovereignty is a fundamental principle.\u201d<\/p>\n The EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned that a peace deal that rewarded invasion would set a \u201cvery dangerous\u201d global precedent. \u201cIf you just give in to the aggression, then you invite more aggression,\u201d she said, adding that countries other than Russia could develop \u201can appetite\u201d for neighbouring territory.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Headlines Europe<\/p>\n A digest of the morning’s main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n In his address, Zelenskyy paid tribute to Ukrainians who had bravely endured \u201calmost four years of full-scale invasion\u201d. He hinted that despite their daily heroism, compromises may need to be made. \u201cOur people really, really want this war to end. We are, of course, strong, but even the strongest metal can break. Don\u2019t forget that,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy said he would work calmly and constructively with Washington over its plan, \u201coffering alternatives\u201d. It was drafted by Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin\u2019s envoy, and Steve Witkoff, Trump\u2019s special representative, during a meeting in Miami. Europe and Ukraine were excluded from discussions.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s president said he was working to ensure \u201cnational interests\u201d were respected. \u201cNow practically every hour there are meetings, phone calls and work on issues that could change a lot,\u201d he wrote on Telegram. He said his country welcomed US diplomatic efforts but wanted \u201creal peace that would not be broken by a third [Russian] invasion\u201d.<\/p>\n Ukrainian government insiders believe that relations between Kyiv and Washington have improved dramatically since February, when Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy and tossed him out of the Oval Office. Kyiv faces the unappealing prospect of provoking Trump\u2019s wrath once again if it fails to swiftly accept his Moscow-drafted deal.<\/p>\n In the immediate aftermath of the White House row, Trump briefly suspended intelligence sharing with Kyiv, cutting off a crucial channel of battlefield information for Ukraine\u2019s frontline units. The US has stopped supplying Ukraine with direct military aid, but still provides advanced weapons systems to Kyiv under the UN\u2019s prioritised Ukraine requirements list<\/a> (Purl) initiative, in which European partners pay for them.<\/p>\n A delegation of senior US military officials led by the army secretary, Dan Driscoll, held talks with Zelenskyy on Thursday in Kyiv. Trump has named Driscoll \u2013 Vance\u2019s friend and former classmate \u2013 as his newest \u201cspecial representative\u201d. The group of American generals was likely to fly to Moscow at the end of next week to discuss the \u201cpeace plan\u201d with the Kremlin, US sources said.<\/p>\n Putin confirmed on Friday that Moscow had recieved a copy of the US plan, which he said could \u201clay the foundation\u201d for an end to the war. \u201cI believe that it could lay the foundation for a final peace settlement,\u201d he A person close to the Kremlin said that while Putin \u201cliked\u201d the overall contours of the peace proposal, it fell short of other Kremlin demands. These include a legally binding guarantee that Nato will not expand further east, as well as enshrining Ukraine\u2019s neutral status in its constitution. As for potential EU membership, the source said Moscow would only consider it if it excluded a military component, citing Austria\u2019s model of neutrality as an example.<\/p>\n US officials have said the text was hammered out after consultations with Rustem Umerov, Ukraine\u2019s national security and defence council secretary, and a close Zelenskyy ally. Umerov \u2013 a former defence minister \u2013 made several modifications, they added. He denied this, saying Kyiv would not accept terms that violated its sovereignty.<\/p>\n
said.<\/p>\n