Trump says Ukraine’s Zelenskiy will have to approve US-backed peace plan

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy
| Photo Credit:
OLGA IVASHCHENKO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will have to like a US-backed peace plan to halt Russia’s invasion and ultimately approve it, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday.

Trump, speaking in the Oval Office after a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, repeated that he had expected to resolve the war much sooner given his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding, “It does take two to tango.”

Trump said the approaching winter, the mounting death toll and repeated attacks on Ukrainian energy plants underscored the urgency of ending the war.

“We have a plan. It’s horrible what’s happening,” Trump said. “We have a way of getting peace, or we think we have a way of getting to peace. He’s going to have to approve it,” he added, referring to Zelenskiy.

Washington’s 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has previously refused to budge on Russia’s key territorial and security demands, said on Friday the US plan could be the basis of a final resolution to the nearly four-year-old conflict. He said Kyiv was against the plan but neither it nor its European allies understood the reality of Russian advances in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy warned on Friday that Ukraine risked losing its dignity and freedom — or Washington’s backing — over a US peace plan that endorses key Russian demands.

Asked about Zelenskiy’s comment, Trump said he had told Zelenskiy at an Oval Office meeting in February that the Ukrainian leader didn’t “have the cards” to end the conflict solely on his terms.

“At some point, he’s going to have to accept something he hasn’t accepted,” he said. “I thought he should have made a deal a year ago, two years ago. The ultimate deal would have been if it never started.”