Axios: The US pressures Zelensky to quickly agree to Trumpʼs peace plan

The US is pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, demanding that he agree to significant territorial losses and other concessions.

This was reported by Axios, citing American and Ukrainian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The US offer deteriorated after Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a five-hour meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, according to a Ukrainian official. He claims that Witkoff and Kushner expected to get a clear “yes” from Zelensky.

“It seemed that the US was trying to sell us in various ways Russia’s desire to seize all of Donbas and that the Americans wanted Zelensky to agree to all of this during a phone conversation,” he said, adding that the proposal contained stricter conditions than previous versions, in particular regarding territories and control over the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

At the same time, according to one of the publicationʼs interlocutors, the US also pressured Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to soften its demands.

In addition, during a phone call with Witkoff and Kushner, Zelensky said that he had received the US offer only an hour ago and “hadn’t had time to read it yet”. According to the American source, “it was strange” because the US had sent the updated offer a day earlier. At the same time, the Ukrainian official said that while some documents had been provided a day earlier, others had been received shortly before the phone call.

Ukrainian officials also expressed the opinion that the US is trying to tear Zelensky away from European leaders in order to be able to exert "more effective" pressure on him.

At the same time, two Ukrainian officials said that the latest US proposal for security guarantees is based on a "broader framework" than the initial one, but still does not include the treaty ratified by the Senate.

Peace plan for Ukraine

The first version of the peace plan proposed by the United States consisted of 28 points. It provided for the recognition of Crimea, as well as the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as de facto Russian.

After a series of negotiations between Ukraine, the United States, and European partners in Geneva starting on November 23, the American plan was reduced from 28 points to 19, taking into account the Ukrainian position.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the document retained the points on the need to release civilians and prisoners of war according to the formula "all for all" and to return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

The Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia, who was part of the delegation at the negotiations, said that the clause on amnesty for potential war criminals was reworked to take into account "the complaints of those who suffered in the war".

The US also agreed not to limit the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the issue of territories was put on hold — they should be discussed by Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.

The next meeting of the American and Ukrainian delegations took place on November 30 in Florida. The United States was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trumpʼs special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trumpʼs son-in-law Jared Kushner.

After the meeting, Serhiy Kyslytsia wrote that the start of the negotiations in Florida was "good," and added that "the warm atmosphere promotes progress".

Later, on December 2, Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Moscow for talks with the Russian side on a peace plan for Ukraine. No concrete decisions were made at the talks, although Russia called the meeting “successful”.

NBC, citing a Russian source, reported that the Kremlin will not make concessions on three issues: the territories of the Donetsk region, limitations on the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and international recognition of the territories seized by Russia. But Russia is ready to be flexible on the issue of Russian assets frozen in the EU.

Zelensky then held a final two-hour phone call with Trump representatives Witkoff and Kushner. According to Axios sources, the most difficult topics during the conversation were the territories and US security guarantees for Ukraine.

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