(Nov 22): European leaders sought to buy time for Ukraine to work out a new ceasefire framework with Russia after the Trump administration set a one-week deadline to agree to terms that Kyiv and its allies rejected as an unacceptable giveaway to Moscow.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and leaders in France, Germany and across the continent were working to see how firm the US demand is that Ukraine agree to the 28-point plan circulated this week by next Thursday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke to President Donald Trump and agreed with the US leader that discussions would continue in the coming days at the level of national security advisers. That would mean the involvement of Marco Rubio, who holds that job as well as secretary of state and has described the plan less as a term sheet set in stone and more as a proposal meant to generate new ideas.
Trump seemed to take a tough line on the issue when asked late on Friday about the issue. If Ukraine doesn’t agree, he appeared ready to wash his hands of the conflict.
“He will have to like it — and if he doesn’t like it, then, you know, they should just keep fighting I guess,” Trump said, adding of Zelenskiy that “at some point he’s going to have to accept something”.
Yet Trump also indicated some flexibility with the timeline, saying in a Fox News Radio interview on Friday morning that while he sees Nov 27 as an appropriate point for a decision, “if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines.”
See also: Trump dispatches aides for more Ukraine talks, says no deadline
Attention will now shift to the sidelines of the Group of 20 in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday, where European leaders will map out next steps, a person familiar with matter said earlier.
“Europe has been trying really hard to come up with this solid and unified stance on this. And I think what this plan potentially does is throw all that effort to the wind and create a scenario where Europeans really have to go back to the drawing board,” said Rachel Rizzo, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center.
Plan details
See also: Ukraine’s Umerov says talks with US to take place in Switzerland
The plan floated by US and Russian envoys would force Kyiv to cede large chunks of territory taken by Russia, cap the size of its military and see sanctions on Moscow lifted over time.
Under the plan, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News, the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk would be “recognised as de facto Russian, including by the US”, Ukraine would also be required to hold elections in 100 days, give up any hope of Nato membership and slash the size of its armed forces.
But as the initial shock of the plan faded on Friday, some officials argued it was a repeat of the past when Trump put forward a demand, Zelenskiy and Europe resisted, and the US president backed off.
One European official, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said it’s not the first time Zelenskiy has found himself in a difficult spot with Trump. The official argued that new US sanctions are coming into force and while Ukraine is in a tough situation, it continues to strike targets deep in Russia and inflict heavy casualties on Russian forces.
“I find it very hard to believe that a proposal this far-reaching could be hammered out in a way that would be agreeable, not just to the Russians and Ukrainians but the Europeans in some fashion,” Meghan O’Sullivan, a director of the Belfer Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, told Bloomberg Television. “I am a big believer in putting hard-core ideas on the table as a starting point, but expecting it could be resolved and these issues could be negotiated by Thursday seems inconceivable to me.”
Zelenskiy said in a social media post later on Friday that he spoke with US Vice President JD Vance and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who travelled to Kyiv to discuss the issue, for almost an hour. President Vladimir Putin also weighed in on Friday, again accusing Kyiv of being the obstacle to peace and suggesting that it was the US and not Russia that had proposed the latest agreement.
Many details of the plan are proposals that have been rejected by Ukraine and its European allies in the past. Nato member states may also object, given that the plan would curtail the defence alliance’s ability to admit new applicants as it sees fit. Such a move would need the buy-in of all 32 of its members.
To stay ahead of Singapore and the region’s corporate and economic trends, click here for Latest Section
The plan entails Ukraine receiving a US security guarantee — albeit one that Washington would be compensated for. The US would also get 50% of profits to rebuild and invest in Ukraine, and enter an economic partnership with Russia once sanctions are lifted.
Republican objections
While European leaders scrambled, senior Republican members of Congress came out against the deal.
“This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly sceptical it will achieve peace,” Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
“Ukraine should not be forced to give up its lands to one of the world’s most flagrant war criminals in Vladimir Putin,” Wicker said, adding that assurances provided to Russia’s leader “should not reward his malign behaviour or undermine the security of the US or allies”.
“Putin has spent the entire year trying to play President Trump for a fool,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, the head of the Senate’s Defense Appropriations panel and the former Senate majority leader. “If administration officials are more concerned with appeasing Putin than securing real peace, then the president ought to find new advisers.”
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
