Donald Trump is increasingly convinced that the war in Ukraine must end as soon as possible, and sent a very clear signal to Volodymyr Zelensky: accept the American peace plan by Thanksgiving, next Thursday, otherwise he risks losing American support. The Washington Post wrote so, citing five anonymous sources familiar with ongoing discussions between the two parties. The president himself confirmed this in an interview on The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio: «I have a lot of deadlines, but when things are going well, you tend to extend them. But we think Thursday is the right time.” Then he added: “The Ukrainian people must give up the land they are losing. Zelensky should like the peace plan.” But on sanctions against Russia, there is no turning back: “I have no intention of lifting them.”
STRATEGY
And Vladimir Putin also joined in the pressure, warning: “if you refuse, we will take other territories.” There is also Vice President JD Vance, who yesterday spoke by telephone with Zelensky to try to reassure him: it seems that the two have also decided to intensify discussions with Europe to reach a solution. It all started two days ago, when US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll presented Ukraine with a version of a 28-point plan written by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, excluding Kiev from the negotiations. The plan, reviewed by Axios, does not envision Kiev joining NATO but envisages security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5, which would commit the US and European allies to treating an attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire “transatlantic community”. However, and this is still a matter of debate, the country would cede much of the east to Russia: Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk would fall to Moscow and would also be recognized by the United States. Finally, the plan would limit the number of Ukrainian troops to 600,000 compared to the current 900,000. Now it seems that Zelensky, despite the risks, is not willing to give up. In fact, Ukraine is at a crossroads, as the president himself said when addressing his country: “Losing either a strategic partner or Ukraine’s dignity.” The president stressed that he was not willing to betray national interests and assured that he would try to cooperate “constructively” with Washington to change the proposal, thereby preventing Russia from claiming that Kiev does not want peace. “The Ukrainian people, more than anyone else in the world, want an end to this war, an end to the killings and a dignified peace,” he said.
WEAPON
But meanwhile, American pressure to reach a deal in less than a week, almost four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also includes weapons: according to Reuters, the White House strategy also includes threats to limit military support and intelligence assistance if Kiev does not decide to collaborate. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin gave his assent yesterday and welcomed the US plan, claiming to have discussed it in August during a meeting with Trump in Alaska: “I believe that this version can also be the basis for a definitive peace agreement.” In all this, Zelensky called NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to understand the Alliance’s position on the issue: «We discussed the available diplomatic options and the plans proposed by America. We are ready to work quickly and constructively to make it happen. “We are jointly coordinating the next steps,” said the Ukrainian president.
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