US president presses Kyiv to accept plan that would mean giving up territory to Russia
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 “peace plan” that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions.
Trump confirmed on Friday morning that next Thursday – Thanksgiving in the US – would be an “acceptable” deadline for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”.
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’s brutal terms.
“Now the pressure on Ukraine is one of the heaviest,” he said. Its options included agreeing to Trump’s 28-point proposal or “an extremely difficult winter”, which has already seen Russia destroy much of the country’s energy infrastructure, with millions of people left without heating and in the dark.
