KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Kyiv is facing a critical decision as it reviews a United States plan to end the war with Russia. This proposal, observers say, reflects many of Moscow’s demands.
Speaking in a public address outside his office on Friday, Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to remain united and vowed not to compromise the country’s identity and independence.
“Now is one of the most difficult moments of our history. Ukraine can face a very difficult choice, either losing dignity or risking the loss of a major partner,” he said. He added that he would continue to fight to defend “the dignity and freedom of Ukrainians.”
Zelenskyy’s remarks came as US President Donald Trump reportedly gave Kyiv less than a week to accept his 28-point peace proposal, nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Trump told a US radio interview on Friday that next Thursday was an “appropriate” deadline for Ukraine to accept the deal.
Reuters, citing two unnamed sources, reported that the Trump administration has warned it could halt intelligence cooperation and weapons support if Kyiv refuses the proposal.
Media reports indicate that the US plan includes several conditions long demanded by Russia. These include requiring Ukraine to cede more territory, limit the size of its military and forfeit its goal of joining NATO. In exchange, Western sanctions on Moscow would be lifted and Russia would be invited back into the Group of Eight, which expelled it in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the proposal as a revised version of a plan discussed earlier this year. Speaking to Russia’s National Security Council, he said it “could form the basis for a final peace settlement,” but noted that Moscow had not been consulted in detail. He said the United States was struggling to secure agreement from Kyiv.
“Ukraine is against it. Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies still have illusions of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield,” Putin said.
Pressure on Kyiv is mounting as Ukrainian forces face growing challenges on the frontlines and continued Russian airstrikes. At least 31 people were killed and 94 wounded in a missile attack on an apartment complex in the western city of Ternopil earlier this week, Ukrainian officials said.
Meanwhile, Moscow claimed that about 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been isolated on the eastern bank of the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region. Ukraine’s military has not commented on the claim.
Ukrainian troops are currently trying to repel Russian attempts to capture the eastern cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, where intense fighting continues. Russian forces have also made recent gains in Zaporizhzhia.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the shifting battlefield situation should convince Zelenskyy that “it is better to negotiate and do it now rather than later,” adding that Ukraine’s decision-making space was shrinking as territory is lost.
Jim Townsend, a former United States Defense Department official, said Ukraine’s battlefield setbacks and weakening military capacity are adding to the diplomatic pressure.
“If the US pulls back and says, ‘If you are not going to agree to this, we will not be supporting you,’ then there will be a lot of pressure on Zelenskyy to take the agreement, no matter how hard it feels,” Townsend said.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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