Journalism of Courage
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday urged allies to accelerate promised air-defense support, saying that ‘we must do everything’ to strengthen defence against ‘wicked Russian attacks.’
This comes after Trump on Friday urged Ukraine to accept his administration’s plan aimed at ending the war with Russia by ceding territory, saying his counterpart in Kyiv will “have to like it.”
“He’ll have to like it, and if he doesn’t like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting,” Trump told reporters.
“At some point he’s going to have to accept something,” Trump added.
On Friday, Zelenskyy pushed back on the American plan, saying he would not betray” his country over the 28-point document, seen in Kyiv as very favorable to the Kremlin.
Earlier Friday, Trump set a deadline of November 27 — the American Thanksgiving holiday — for Ukraine to accept his administration’s plan aimed at ending its war with Russia.
“I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines. But Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio.
As Kyiv is seeking changes to the draft plan, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”.
A meeting has been convened in Geneva later today, where Ukrainian and American officials will meet for further discussions on Trump’s “peace plan”. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join them in Geneva.
In a post on X ahead of talks in Geneva, Zelenskyy said “Our advisors will be working today in Switzerland with representatives from the US, Germany, France and the UK.”
“But alongside diplomacy, we must do everything to strengthen our defence against such wicked Russian attacks,” he added.
“The bloodshed must be stopped, and we must ensure that the war is never reignited. I am awaiting the results of today’s talks and hope that all participants will be constructive. We all need a positive outcome,” Zelenskyy said.
https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1992512759934706045 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsTrump on Saturday signalled that his Ukraine “peace plan” could still change, telling reporters at the White House that it was “not my final offer” after a wave of outrage from Ukrainians, some of whom compared the proposal to Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 Munich deal with Adolf Hitler. “We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other we have to get it ended,” the US president said.
The build-up of a ‘peace plan’ has already been marked by political friction in Washington. Senators from both parties claimed that secretary of state Marco Rubio had privately dismissed the plan as a “wish list of the Russians” rather than an administration position. The state department firmly denied the allegation, calling it “blatantly false”, and Rubio later insisted the document was authored by the US as “a strong framework for ongoing negotiations”.
Trump has given Zelenskyy until Thursday to respond to the 28-point proposal, which demands Kyiv give up territory currently under its control, cut the size of its army, and relinquish long-range weapons. It also rejects the idea of a European peacekeeping mission and omits sanctions for Russian war crimes. Critics say the plan hands major concessions to Vladimir Putin.
In an address on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine faces a “difficult moment” as it weighs the survival of a crucial ally against the defence of its national dignity. On Saturday, he reiterated that any real or “dignified” peace must rest on “guaranteed security and justice”.
Zelenskyy has appointed a negotiating team led by his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva. Former defence minister Rustem Umerov, also part of the delegation, said the discussions would focus on “possible parameters of a future peace agreement”. Signalling clear boundaries, he added: “Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests.”
While Zelenskyy has agreed to engage with the process, he has repeatedly stressed that Ukraine cannot surrender its sovereignty or abandon its constitution, which enshrines its internationally recognised borders.
