Trump Insists Zelensky Must Embrace Controversial Ukraine Peace Proposal by November 27 Deadline

On Friday, President Donald Trump of the United States urged Ukraine to endorse his administration’s proposal to resolve the conflict with Russia, which includes territorial concessions. He remarked that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would “have to be on board with it.”

“If he doesn’t embrace it, they should just continue fighting,” Trump told journalists in response to questions regarding Zelensky’s lukewarm reception of the plan.

“He will ultimately need to accept something,” Trump commented further during a meeting with New York City’s future mayor, Zohran Mamdani, in the Oval Office.

Zelensky, on the same day, countered the American initiative, asserting he would not “betray” his nation over the 28-point plan, which Kyiv views as heavily favoring the Kremlin.

The 79-year-old Republican expressed his frustration over the lack of progress in concluding the war sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and is eager for a faster resolution.

Earlier that day, Trump announced a deadline of November 27 — coinciding with the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday — for Ukraine to accept the peace proposal from his administration.

“I’ve set many deadlines, but when things are progressing positively, you might extend them. Nonetheless, we believe Thursday is a suitable timeframe,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News Radio.

According to a draft obtained by AFP, the agreement would require Ukraine to relinquish a significant portion of its eastern territory to Russia and reduce the size of its military. Additionally, Kyiv would commit to never joining NATO and would forgo the Western peacekeeping forces it has sought, although European warplanes would be deployed to Poland.

Trump cautioned that if hostilities continued, Ukraine would ultimately lose the territories they would be forced to give up under his proposed peace terms.

“No matter what anyone says, they were incredibly brave,” he said regarding the Ukrainian troops facing the Russian forces.

When asked about the potential for Russia to launch further attacks in Europe following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Trump insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not seeking more conflict” and mentioned that Putin is facing “consequences” from a war that has dragged on for nearly four years, which he initially believed would only last a day.