Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has largely rejected the US-proposed peace plan. Photo / AFP
European leaders and the UN are calling for greater involvement from Kyiv and its allies as they guardedly pushed back against a proposed US plan to end the war in Ukraine largely on Russia’s terms.
The US 28-point plan, backed by President Donald Trump, calls for major concessions by Kyiv, including giving up a swathe of eastern territory and slashing its military.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the plan could “lay the foundation” for a Ukraine peace deal, confirming for the first time that Moscow had received a copy from the US.
Putin threatened to seize more territory if Kyiv rejects the proposal, saying the claimed recent capture of Ukrainian city Kupiansk “will inevitably be repeated in other key areas of the front line”.
Trump indicated Friday he had set a deadline of November 27 for Ukraine to accept his administration’s plan aimed at ending the conflict.
“I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines. But Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Radio.
Under the plan, Ukraine would give up a swathe of eastern territory to Russia and slash the size of its army, according to a draft obtained by AFP.
Kyiv would also pledge never to join Nato and would not get the Western peacekeepers it has called for, although European warplanes would be stationed in Poland to protect Ukraine.
Trump said if the fighting continued, the Ukrainians would still end up losing the territories they would have to cede to Russia if the plan were validated.
“Say what you want, they were very brave,” he said about Ukrainian forces fighting the Russians.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will “have to like” a US plan to end the war with Russia that calls for Kyiv to cede territory, he said.
“He’ll have to like it, and if he doesn’t like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “At some point he’s going to have to accept something.”
Putin “is not looking for more war”, the Republican leader responded when asked about the possibility of Russia attacking other countries in Europe after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump also stated Putin was “taking punishment” for the conflict going on for nearly four years and added, it “was supposed to be a one-day war”.
Zelenskyy pushed back on the American plan, saying he would not “betray” his country over the 28-point document that is being seen in Kyiv as favourable to the Kremlin.
He largely rejected the proposals, saying “we did not betray Ukraine [at the start of the war in 2022], we will not do so now”.
But he warned “Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner”.
He said he would propose alternatives.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called for a solution that “fully” involves Kyiv.
In a phone call with Zelenskyy, they said “all decisions with implications for the interests of Europe and Nato require the joint support and consensus of European partners and Nato allies”.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said any workable plan “needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board”.
“We have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim.
“So we haven’t heard of any concessions on the Russian side.”
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen insisted on Friday that Ukraine must have a central role in deciding its future and said European leaders would hold discussions on a US peace plan on Saturday.
“We are clear that there should be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” she said on X after talks with Zelenskyy.
She said that “as next steps, European leaders will meet tomorrow in the margins of G20 and then in Angola at the EU-AU meeting” next week. Several European leaders will be at the G20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend.
Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke with Merz, after which her office said they “reaffirmed the ultimate goal of achieving a just and lasting peace, in the interest of all of Europe”, adding that “other elements of the plan were deemed worthy of further exploration”.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday said the coming weeks will be key to stopping the war.
“This peace plan includes propositions on which the Russians and the Americans have already held preliminary discussions,” Orban said.
“I think we’re at a decisive moment, the next two or three weeks will be crucial.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres said any peace solution should “abide by the resolutions of the General Assembly that clearly indicated that the territorial integrity of Ukraine... must be respected”.
– Updated
- Agence France-Presse