President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Ukrainian people on Friday and said President Trump’s 28-point peace plan will force Ukraine to chose between “losing our dignity” or risking the loss of U.S. support, reports Axios.
President Zelensky Doesn’t Want to Give Up Land
The plan would force Ukraine to accept harsh concessions, including the loss of even more territory than Russia currently controls. Zelensky has told the Trump administration he’s prepared to negotiate, but the White House is pushing him to sign within one week.
He has had months to think about thies. There is nothing new in the plan. All the items have been put forward.
“This is one of the most difficult moments in our history,” Zelensky said in his video address, according to translations published by multiple media outlets.
“The pressure on Ukraine is now among the heaviest. Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice: the loss of dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner.”
Zelensky warned that Ukraine faces an “extremely harsh winter” if he spurns Trump’s offer.
He said U.S. officials “expect an answer from us.”
He Won’t Accept the Deal, Runs to Europe
Given his claim that accepting the current deal would force Ukraine to accept “life without freedom, without dignity, without justice,” it doesn’t sound as though his answer can possibly be yes, Axios reports.
Zelensky said he’d work with the US and propose alternatives. Zelensky also said he’d rely heavily on European support.
Europe doesn’t contribute much other than vocally demanding a great deal as more and more soldiers die.
Zelensky made emergency phone calls on Friday with the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K., all of whom are helping Ukraine shape its response to the U.S. plan and come up with alternative proposals.
“We remember Europe was with us. We believe Europe will be with us,” Zelensky said in his speech.
It is most unfortunate that Europe and the previous administration pushed Ukraine to keep fighting this war at their great expense.
Trump Respond: Urges Zelensky to Accept.
A senior White House official claimed the U.S. security guarantee on offer in the plan is a “big win” for Zelensky, and contended that Ukraine is likely to lose the territory it’s being asked to give up if the war continues.
President Trump has responded to President Zelensky and urged him strongly to accept the peace plan. He warned Zelensky that Kiev risks losing US support. He once him to sign on to the framework to end the war in Ukraine based upon the 28 point peace plan. Trump told Brian Kilmeade on the radio that the deadline of Thanksgiving is quote an appropriate time. “In the meantime, he has no intention of lifting the sanctions on Russia.”
As Trump said, “They’re losing land.”
They’re also losing people.
The Kremlin said they have not seen the plan details but urged Ukraine to make a “responsible decision.”
A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the plan was drawn up immediately following discussions with Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. He “agreed to the majority of the plan, after making several modifications, and presented it to President Zelenskyy,” the official said.
The framework requires giving up Luhansk and Donesk, cutting the army in half, never joining NATO, giving up long-range missiles, and holding elections within 100 days.
This is all going on as another financial scandal blows up in Ukraine and it involves his key staff.
