Zelensky warns Ukraine could lose U.S. support for White House peace plan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Kiev could lose U.S. support over the White House’s plans for how to end the war with Russia.

Addressing the nation on Friday, Zelensky said Ukraine “could face a very difficult choice: either lose its dignity or risk losing a key partner,” adding that “today is one of the most difficult moments in our history.”

The widely leaked U.S. peace plan includes proposals that Kyiv has previously ruled out: ceding the eastern region it currently controls, a deep reduction in the size of its military and a pledge not to join Nato.

The terms are seen as heavily biased in favor of Russia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying the plan could be the “basis” for a peaceful settlement.

Putin said at a meeting with his security cabinet on Friday that Moscow had received the plan but had not yet discussed it in detail with the Kremlin. He said Russia was willing to “show flexibility” but was also prepared to continue fighting.

Later in the day, US President Donald Trump said Zelensky “has to like” the plan, adding that otherwise Ukraine and Russia would continue to fight.

Ukraine relies heavily on deliveries of advanced U.S.-made weapons, including air defense systems to repel deadly Russian airstrikes, as well as intelligence provided by Washington.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In a 10-minute speech in front of the presidential palace in Kiev, Zelensky warned that Ukraine would face “tremendous pressure… to weaken us and divide us”, adding that “the enemy does not sleep”.

He urged Ukrainians to remain united and stressed that the country “must take national interests into account.”

“We will not make loud statements,” he continued, “but we will work calmly with the United States and all partners… to provide alternatives to the proposed peace plan.”

Zelensky also said he had received assurances of continued support during phone calls with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

After the meeting, Starmer stressed that “the principle that Ukraine must determine its future under its sovereignty is a fundamental principle.”

Separately, Zelensky said he spoke with Vice President Vance and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for “nearly an hour,” adding that Ukraine “always respects” President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war.

In Washington, Trump warned that Ukraine would cede more territory to Russia “in a short period of time.”

He said it would be “appropriate” to give Ukraine until November 27, Thanksgiving Day in the United States, to agree to a peace deal, but added that the deadline could be extended if things “go well.”

Speaking at the White House late on Friday, the US president said “we think we have a way to achieve peace”, adding that Zelensky “has to approve it”.

Washington has been urging Kyiv to quickly accept the plan, sending senior Pentagon officials to the Ukrainian capital earlier this week.

On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin appeared determined to continue the war despite reports that Russia had suffered heavy casualties in the fighting.

“We have our tasks, our goals,” the uniformed Kremlin leader told his army commanders. “The main thing is to achieve unconditionally the goals of special military operations (total war).”

The US’s 28-point peace plan comes as Russia claims a small territory in southeastern Ukraine and Zelensky faces a domestic crisis involving senior officials implicated in a $100m (£76m) corruption scandal.

The White House dismissed suggestions that Ukraine was frozen out of drafting the proposal, following a meeting between U.S. envoy Steve Vitkov and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

An unnamed US official told BBC US partner CBS News that the plan was drawn up “immediately” after discussions with Ukraine’s top security official, Rustem Umerov, who agreed to much of it.

Umerov is said to have made some changes before submitting it to Zelensky.

The leaked draft proposes a partial withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the eastern Donetsk region that Russia currently controls, as well as the neighboring Luhansk region and the southern part of the Crimean peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014.

The plan also includes freezing borders along current fronts in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of southern Ukraine. Both areas are partially occupied by Russia.

The U.S. plan also would limit Ukrainian troop numbers to 600,000 and station Eurofighter fighter jets in neighboring Poland.

The plan said Kyiv would receive “reliable security guarantees” but gave no details. The document said Russia was “not expected” to invade its neighbors and that NATO would not expand further.

The draft also recommends that Russia will “reintegrate into the global economy” by lifting sanctions and inviting Russia to rejoin the Group of Seven, a group of the world’s most powerful countries – making it the Group of Eight again.

Ukrainians both under and under Russian occupation reacted defiantly to news of the U.S. proposal.

In Kiev, the widow of a Ukrainian soldier told the BBC: “This is not a peace plan, this is a plan to continue the war.”

Another source from Ukraine’s occupied territories told the BBC: “I’m trying to keep my head here amidst the constant propaganda that Ukraine has forgotten us. I hope they won’t sign this deal.”

Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukraine, and despite reports of heavy losses, Russian forces have been advancing slowly along a vast frontline.