(AFP) – Ukraine scrambled Saturday to respond to a US plan to end the war that includes many of Russia’s hardline demands, with Kyiv saying it had discussed the next steps with several key European allies. While President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed back against the 28-point plan, Russian leader Vladimir Putin has welcomed the proposal, which would force Ukraine to give up land, cut its army, and pledge never to join NATO.
The United States bypassed Europe with the plan, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X he had “outlined the logic of our further steps” in a call with European counterparts, including from France, Britain, and the EU’s foreign policy chief. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper tweeted separately that “Ukraine must determine its future.” European leaders are due to meet Saturday on the sidelines of a G20 summit in South Africa to make it clear “that there should be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said.
US President Donald Trump has given Ukraine less than a week to sign, but Zelensky on Friday pledged to work to ensure any deal would not “betray” Ukraine’s interests, acknowledging he risked losing Washington as an ally. Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, Zelensky said in an address to the nation, adding that he would propose alternatives to Trump’s proposal. Putin said the blueprint could “lay the foundation” for a final peace settlement but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.
Russia would gain territory, be reintegrated into the global economy, and rejoin the G8 under a draft of the plan seen by AFP. “Ukraine and its European allies are still living under illusions and dreaming of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield,” Putin said in a televised meeting with his security council. If Kyiv walks away, Russia claimed its recent recapturing of the Ukrainian city Kupiansk “will inevitably be repeated in other key areas of the front line,” Putin added. The Ukrainian army denies Russia has retaken Kupiansk, which Kyiv lost to Moscow the day it launched its invasion in 2022, then wrested back.
Zelensky on Friday recalled how he marshaled Kyiv’s response to the Russian invasion, saying, “we did not betray Ukraine then, we will not do so now.” “I will present arguments, I will persuade, I will propose alternatives,” he added. Trump said that November 27 — when the United States celebrates Thanksgiving — was an “appropriate time” to set for Zelensky to agree to a deal, but he indicated it could be flexible. “He’ll have to like it, and if he doesn’t like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting,” Trump told reporters. “At some point, he’s going to have to accept something.”
Zelensky said after talks with US Vice President JD Vance that Ukraine continues to “respect” Trump’s desire to end the war. He also held an emergency call with the German, French, and British leaders. The Ukrainian leader plans to speak directly to Trump soon, his office has said.
In Kyiv, people were divided over whether Ukraine should engage with the proposal and negotiate a better position or reject it as a capitulation. Yanina, a 41-year-old seamstress, predicted the proposal will lead nowhere and the war will continue. “Neither us nor Russia will make concessions,” she said. Earlier this week, Russia carried out one of its deadliest attacks this year and one of the worst on western Ukraine since the invasion. The death toll in the western city of Ternopil rose to 32, regional police said, after cruise missiles slammed into apartment blocks.
The Ternopil attack came as Russia batters Ukraine’s energy grid ahead of winter and with Kyiv’s stretched troops under pressure on the front line. To end the war, the US plan envisages recognizing territories controlled by Moscow as “de facto” Russian, with Kyiv pulling troops out of parts of the Donetsk region. Kyiv would also cap its army at 600,000, rule out joining NATO, and have no NATO troops deployed to its territory. In return, Ukraine would get unspecified “reliable security guarantees” and a fund for reconstruction using some Russian assets frozen in foreign accounts.
“The pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” Zelensky said in his address.
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