Pressure mounts as Trump pushes Zelenskyy to accept Russia-Ukraine peace plan

US President Donald Trump is escalating pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a sweeping settlement to end the war with Russia — one that would require giving up territory, shrinking Ukraine’s military and abandoning hopes of joining NATO.

Unveiling a new 28-point peace plan, Trump said he expects Zelenskyy to respond by next Thursday. “We think we have a way of getting peace,” Trump said. “He’s going to have to approve it,” foreign media quoted him as saying.

Zelenskyy, already under strain from corruption scandals and battlefield losses, warned that Ukraine now faces perhaps “the most difficult choice in its history.”

Trump turns up the pressure

This latest push is the toughest turn yet in a relationship that has long been fraught. In 2019, Trump’s first call with Zelenskyy triggered his impeachment after he pressed the new Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump argued Biden spent too much of America’s money on Ukraine and promised to end the war quickly if elected.

Tensions flared again earlier this year during a stormy Oval Office meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful enough for more than $180 billion in US support. The confrontation led to a temporary freeze on US aid.

Now, Trump is demanding concessions Zelenskyy says cut to the core of Ukraine’s dignity and independence.

The new proposal — delivered in Kyiv on Thursday by US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — caught even Driscoll’s own staff off-guard. Ukrainian officials treated it as an opening position, but it is unclear how much negotiation Trump will tolerate.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the plan reflects “the realities of the situation” and creates the “best win-win scenario, where both parties gain more than they must give.”

Trump has insisted Ukraine is already losing the war. “They’re losing land. They’re losing land,” he said during a foreign media interview.

At the core of the plan is a demand that Ukraine hand over the entire Donbas region — including areas it still controls. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War say Russia would need years to capture all of Donbas at its current pace, but Trump says its loss is inevitable.

Beyond territory, the proposal calls for sharp cuts to Ukraine’s military and a European guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO.

One clause also demands both sides abolish “all discriminatory measures” and ban “all Nazi ideology and activities.” Historians say the language echoes Vladimir Putin’s false claims that Ukraine needs to be “denasified,” a narrative used to justify the 2022 invasion. David Silbey, a military historian at Cornell University, said the cultural and political concessions appear designed to validate Russia’s claims about Ukrainian identity. He warned the package would be extremely difficult for Zelenskyy to defend at home: “I just don’t think Zelenskyy could do this deal and look his public in the eye again.”

Trump’s timing hits Ukraine at a moment of real vulnerability. A corruption scandal involving $100 million in kickbacks at the state nuclear company has already forced resignations of top ministers and drawn in several Zelenskyy allies.

Konstantin Sonin, a political economist at the University of Chicago, said Trump understands the pressure Zelenskyy is under. “Zelenskyy’s back is against the wall,” he said, adding that the government “could collapse if he agrees” to the deal.

On the front lines, Ukraine is struggling to hold off a larger, better-equipped Russian military. Drone and missile attacks are straining the country’s energy grid, causing rolling blackouts as winter approaches. Ukraine also faces uncertainty over future European funding after a loan plan tied to frozen Russian assets was thrown into question.