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US increases pressure on Zelensky over peace plan — Axios
The United States of America is increasing pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader is being urged to agree to significant territorial and other concessions within Donald Trump’s peace plan.
This was reported by Axios, citing sources.
The US is increasing pressure on Zelensky over the peace plan
According to Axios, after intensive diplomatic negotiations, Ukrainians still believe that some aspects of the current US peace plan benefit Russia. And that the United States is pressuring Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky much harder than Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
However, Axios adds that a US official denied this, stressing that the United States had also pressured Putin to soften his demands.
In turn, one Ukrainian official told Axios that, in Kyiv’s view, the US proposal had worsened after Trump’s negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, held a five-hour meeting with Putin at the Kremlin last week.
What the US is trying to convince Zelensky to accept
The official added that Witkoff and Kushner seemed to want a clear "yes" from Zelensky when they discussed the peace plan with him during a two-hour phone call.
"It felt like the US was trying to sell us in different ways the Russian desire to take the whole of Donbas and that the Americans wanted Zelensky to accept all of it in the phone call," the Ukrainian official noted.
According to American and Ukrainian officials, Zelensky said during the call with Witkoff and Kushner that he had received the US proposal only an hour earlier and had not yet read it.
One US official said this was strange because the United States had delivered the updated proposal the day before. A Ukrainian official said that although some documents were indeed provided earlier, others were received shortly before the call.
In addition, the Ukrainian official emphasized that the US proposal contained stricter conditions than previous versions regarding issues such as territory and control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and did not answer key questions about security guarantees.
However, according to the Ukrainian official, the American side seemed to expect Zelensky to simply agree to the terms over the phone.
Axios notes that a US official insisted that the current draft had been significantly influenced by Ukrainian proposals, and that Kushner and Witkoff had pressured Putin to accept some of Ukraine’s demands.
The outlet recalls that on Monday Zelensky met in London with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany to discuss a joint position on Trump’s plan.
Axios writes that US and Ukrainian officials say the Trump administration viewed Zelensky’s meeting on Downing Street as a futile attempt to buy time in negotiations over Trump’s "peace plan."
The US wants to "pull" Zelensky away from European leaders
At the same time, the publication reports that Ukrainian officials said they believe the United States is trying to pull Zelensky away from European leaders in order to exert more effective pressure on him.
"Zelensky can't make such dramatic decisions without consulting his key allies in Europe," the Ukrainian official said.
The official noted that although the Trump administration is pressuring Zelensky to act quickly, Europeans are advising him to be cautious and patient.
According to Axios, this development is angering some White House officials, who view Europeans as the "main obstacle" to reaching a deal.
According to Axios, Ukrainians and Europeans are also discussing security guarantees. A European official said it remains unclear what role the United States is prepared to play in ensuring these guarantees and what it expects from its European allies.
Two Ukrainian officials said the latest US proposal on security guarantees is based on "a wider framework" than the initial proposal but still does not include a Senate-ratified treaty.
Read more:
Peace, funding and security — Zelensky on talks with EU and NATO
