Ukraine may face a hard choice at a pivotal point in its almost four-year fight to defeat Russia’s full-scale invasion, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians in a national address Friday, pledging to hold constructive discussions with Washington on a U.S. peace proposal.
The U.S. plan contains many of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longstanding demands, including Ukrainian territorial concessions, while offering limited security guarantees to Ukraine. It foresees Ukraine handing over territory to Russia, something Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out, reduces the size of it army and blocks its coveted path to NATO membership.
U.S. President Donald Trump in a radio interview on Friday said that he wants an answer from Zelenskyy on his 28-point Ukraine plan by Thursday, but says an extension is possible to finalize terms.
“I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well you tend to extend the deadlines,” Trumps said in an interview on the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio. “But Thursday is it — we think an appropriate time.”
While Zelenskyy has offered to negotiate with the U.S. and Russia, he signalled Ukraine may not get everything it wants and has to confront the possibility of losing American support if it makes a stand.
“Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest,” Zelenskyy said the a recorded speech. “Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.
“We do not make loud statements. We will work calmly with America and all partners,” he said, but insisted on fair treatment.
“Ukraine’s national interest must be taken into account,” he said.
U.S. efforts praised, but concerns raised
Zelenskyy spoke earlier by phone with the leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom, who assured him of their continued support, as European officials scrambled to respond to U.S. peace proposals that apparently caught them unawares.
Wary of antagonizing Trump, the European and Ukrainian responses were cautiously worded and pointedly commended American peace efforts.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer assured Zelenskyy of “their unchanged and full support on the way to a lasting and just peace” in Ukraine, Merz’s office said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he wants to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump over a peace plan the U.S. is working on with Russia which includes Ukraine ceding territory in the Donbas to Russia and giving up weapons.
The four leaders welcomed U.S. efforts to end the war. “In particular, they welcomed the commitment to the sovereignty of Ukraine and the readiness to grant Ukraine solid security guarantees,” the statement added.
“They agreed to continue pursuing the aim of protecting vital European and Ukrainian interests in the long term,” the statement said. “That includes the line of contact being the point of departure for an agreement and that the Ukrainian armed forces must remain in a position to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine effectively.”
European Council President Antonio Costa in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the G20 summit said of the U.S. proposals, “the European Union has not been communicated any plans in [an] official manner.”
‘Existential threat’: senior EU official
European countries see their own futures at stake in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion and have insisted on being consulted in peace efforts.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine is an existential threat to Europe. We all want this war to end. But how it ends matters,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in Brussels. “Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded. Ultimately, the terms of any agreement are for Ukraine to decide.”
While Trump and the pertinent top officials in his second administration have shifted this year from public comments supporting Zelenskyy to those criticizing him, the administration has not provided any new direct military or humanitarian aid for Ukraine, in contrast to predecessor Joe Biden’s White House.
The Trump administration has encouraged European partners and NATO allies to provide weapons for Ukraine through purchases from American arms manufacturers.
Trump in his first term was impeached in the U.S. House of Representatives over a phone call with Zelenskyy that involved an apparent quid pro quo, although he was acquitted in the Senate.
The proposals come at a difficult time for Zelenskyy, who is grappling with a push on the battlefield by Russia’s bigger army and a major domestic corruption scandal that has led to the ouster of ministers German Galushchenko and Svitlana Hrynchu, from justice and energy portfolios, respectively, although each denies wrongdoing.
Zelenskyy at one point in his Friday remarks urged Ukrainians to “stop fighting” each other, in a possible reference to the scandal that has brought fierce criticism of the government.
The Kremlin offered a reserved reaction, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that Moscow has not officially received the U.S. peace plan.
He claimed U.S.-Russian diplomatic contacts are “ongoing,” but “nothing substantive is currently being discussed.”
Russian glide bomb hits Ukraine homes
Meanwhile, a Russian glide bomb slammed into a residential district in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing five people, officials said Friday, as Moscow’s forces continued to hammer civilian areas of Ukraine. The overnight attack also injured 10 people, including a teenage girl.
A Russian drone assault on the southern city of Odesa also struck a residential area during the night, injuring five people, including a 16-year-old boy.
The attacks came two days after a Russian drone and missile barrage on Ukraine’s western city of Ternopil killed 31 people, including six children, and injured 94 others, including 18 children.
Emergency services say 13 people are still unaccounted for after the attack crushed the top floors of Tenopil apartment blocks and started fires.
