{"id":587546,"date":"2025-11-22T22:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T22:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/587546\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T22:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T22:02:15","slug":"trump-paints-zelenskyy-into-a-corner-with-new-peace-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/587546\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump paints Zelenskyy into a corner with new peace plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 With his new 28-point plan<\/a> to end Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump<\/a> is resurfacing his argument that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> doesn\u2019t \u201chave the cards\u201d<\/a> to continue on the battlefield and must come to a settlement that heavily tilts in Moscow\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n

Trump, who has demonstrated low regard for Zelenskyy dating back to his first term, says he expects the Ukrainian leader to respond to his administration\u2019s new plan<\/a> to end the war by next Thursday. <\/p>\n

The president said Friday of Zelenksyy, \u201cHe\u2019s going to have to approve it,\u201d though he was more reconciliatory a day later, saying, \u201cI would like to get to peace.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to get it ended. One way or the other, we have to get it ended,\u201d Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday. <\/p>\n

Buffeted by a corruption scandal<\/a> in his government, battlefield setbacks and another difficult winter looming as Russia continues to bombard Ukraine\u2019s energy grid<\/a>, Zelenskyy says Ukraine is now facing perhaps the most difficult choice in its history.<\/p>\n

Trump and Zelenskyy have had a tortured relationship<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy has not spoken with Trump since the plan became public this week, but has said he expects to talk to the Republican president in coming days. It\u2019s likely to be another in a series of tough conversations the two leaders have had over the years. <\/p>\n

The first time they spoke, in 2019, Trump tried to pressure the then newly minted Ukrainian leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election. That phone call sparked Trump\u2019s first impeachment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump made Biden\u2019s support for Ukraine a central issue in his successful 2024 campaign, saying the conflict had cost U.S. taxpayers too much money and vowing he would quickly bring the war to an end<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then early this year in a disastrous Oval Office meeting<\/a>, Trump and Vice President JD Vance<\/a> tore into Zelenskyy for what they said was insufficient gratitude for the more than $180 billion the U.S. had appropriated for military aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of the war. That episode led to a temporary suspension<\/a> of U.S. assistance to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

And now with the new proposal<\/a>, Trump is pressing Zelenskyy to agree to concessions of land to Moscow, a massive reduction in the size of Ukraine\u2019s army, and agreement from Europe to assert that Ukraine will never be admitted into the NATO military alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice: either loss of dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner,\u201d Zelenskyy said in a video address Friday. <\/p>\n

At the center of Trump\u2019s plan is the call on Ukraine to concede the entirety of its eastern Donbas region, even though a vast swath of that land remains in Ukrainian control. Analysts at the independent Institute for the Study of War have estimated it would take several years for the Russian military to completely seize the territory, based on its current rate of advances. <\/p>\n

Trump, nevertheless, insists that the loss of the region \u2014 which includes cities that are vital defense, industrial and logistics hubs for Ukrainian forces \u2014 is a fait accompli. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey will lose in a short period of time. You know so,\u201d Trump said Friday when asked during a Fox News Radio interview about his push on Ukraine to give up the territory. \u201cThey\u2019re losing land. They\u2019re losing land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s patience remains a question<\/p>\n

The Trump proposal was formally presented to Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday by Dan Driscoll, the U.S. Army secretary<\/a>. The plan itself was a surprise to Driscoll\u2019s staffers, who were not aware as late as Wednesday that their boss would be going to Ukraine as part of a team to present the plan to the Ukrainians.<\/p>\n

Army officials walked away from that meeting with the impression that the Ukrainians were viewing the proposal as a starting point that would evolve as negotiations progressed, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how much patience Trump has for further negotiation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump\u2019s new plan reflects \u201cthe realities of the situation\u201d and offers the \u201cbest win-win scenario, where both parties gain more than they must give.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about Zelenskyy\u2019s initial hesitant response to the proposal, Trump recalled the February Oval Office blow-up with Zelenskyy: \u201cYou remember, right in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, \u2018You don\u2019t have the cards.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, though, was also asked Saturday if the proposal was his final offer to end the Ukraine war and said it wasn\u2019t \u2014 leaving open the possibility of more negotiation. Still, asked what would happen if Ukraine and Zelenskyy ultimately reject the proposal, the president turned almost dismissive: \u201cThen he can continue to fight his little heart out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy is now in a vulnerable spot<\/p>\n

The mounting pressure from Trump comes as Zelenskyy is dealing with fallout over $100 million in kickbacks<\/a> for contracts with the state-owned nuclear energy company. The scandal led to the resignations of top Cabinet ministers<\/a> and implicated other Zelenskyy associates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Konstantin Sonin, a political economist and Russia expert at the University of Chicago, said, \u201cwhat Donald Trump is certainly extremely good at is spotting weak spots of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the 28 elements of Trump\u2019s proposal calls for elections<\/a> to be held within 100 days of enactment of the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a rationalistic assessment that there is more leverage over Zelenskyy than over Putin,\u201d Sonin said. He added, \u201cZelenskyy\u2019s back is against the wall\u201d and \u201chis government could collapse if he agrees\u201d to the U.S. proposal.<\/p>\n

All the while, Ukraine is increasingly showing signs of strain on the battlefield after years of war against a vastly larger and better-equipped Russian military. Ukraine is desperately trying to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across the country<\/a> on the brink of winter. <\/p>\n

Kyiv is also grappling with doubts about the way ahead. A European plan to finance next year\u2019s budget<\/a> for Ukraine through loans linked to frozen Russian funds is now in question.<\/p>\n

The Trump proposal in its current form also includes several elements that would cut deeply into Ukrainian pride, said David Silbey, a military historian at Cornell University.<\/p>\n

One provision calls on Russia and Ukraine to abolish \u201call discriminatory measures and guarantee the rights of Ukrainian and Russian media and education,\u201d and \u201call Nazi ideology and activities must be rejected and prohibited.\u201d That element could be seen by the Ukrainian side as giving credence to Putin\u2019s airing of distorted historical narratives<\/a> to legitimize the 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n

Putin has said the war is in part an effort to \u201cdenazify\u201d Ukraine and complained of the country\u2019s \u201cneo-Nazi regime\u201d as a justification for Russia\u2019s invasion. In fact, in Ukraine\u2019s last parliamentary election in 2019, support for far-right candidates was 2%, significantly lower than in many other European countries.<\/p>\n

The plan\u2019s provision is \u201cvery clearly an attempt to build up Putin\u2019s claim to Russian cultural identity within Ukraine,\u201d Silbey said. He added, \u201cFrom territory loss to the substantial reduction of the Ukrainian military to cultural concessions that have been demanded, I just don\u2019t think Zelenskyy could do this deal and look his public in the eye again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

AP writers Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 With his new 28-point plan to end Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[12019,185191,32,33,4179,601,714,19428,185190,285,332,7661,657,7662,333,2601,10673,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-587546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-ap-top-news","9":"tag-dan-driscoll","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-elections","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-jd-vance","14":"tag-joe-biden","15":"tag-karoline-leavitt","16":"tag-konstantin-sonin","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-russia","19":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","20":"tag-ukraine","21":"tag-ukraine-government","22":"tag-vladimir-putin","23":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","24":"tag-washington-news","25":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115595611529654025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}