Trump says Zelensky “is going to have to approve” his peace plan

Washington.- The President of the United States, Donald Trump, declared this Friday that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, “will have to approve” the White House peace plan that forces Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.

The leader made these statements during a press conference in the Oval Office with the mayor-elect of New York, Zohran Mamdani, on the same day that he gave Kiev until next Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, to respond to the plan.

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“I’ve spoken with his people, we have a plan. It’s horrible what’s happening. It’s a war that should never have happened… we believe we have a way to achieve peace; he will have to approve it,” Trump told the press. The 28-point peace plan, negotiated between the United States and Russia, has been leaked in the last few hours to American media and includes some red lines for Zelensky.

Among them, Ukraine should cede to Russia regions in the west of the country, including areas that have not yet been invaded by Kremlin forces, and reduce the Ukrainian army to a maximum of 600,000 troops.

The door to Ukraine’s eventual entry into NATO would also be closed forever, which in return would receive security guarantees from the United States to defend it in the event of a new Russian attack. In a speech to the nation, Zelensky implied that he considers Trump’s proposal unacceptable, which puts the country in the position of having to choose between “losing dignity” or breaking the alliance with Washington. For his part, Putin confirmed having received the plan and stated that it can serve as a basis for a “definitive” settlement of the conflict, which intensified in February 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although its origins are earlier.