Trump pushes Ukraine to accept peace plan ahead of Nov 27 deadline, Zelenskyy calls it ‘tough choice’ – Firstpost

US President Donald Trump on Friday urged Ukraine to accept his administration’s plan that aims to end the war with Russia by ceding territory, saying his counterpart in Kiev “would have to like that.”

“They have to like it, and if they don’t like it, you know, they just have to keep fighting,” Trump told reporters, who asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s less-than-enthusiastic response to his plan.

“At some point he’s going to have to admit something,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

On Friday, Zelensky insisted the US plan would not be “betrayed” by his country over the 28-point document, which is seen in Kiev as too favorable to the Kremlin.

The 79-year-old Republican has been frustrated by not being able to end the war triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and is now trying to accelerate it.

Earlier on Friday, Trump had set a deadline of November 27 – the US Thanksgiving holiday – for Ukraine to accept his administration’s plan aimed at ending its war with Russia.

“I have a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you extend the deadlines. But we believe Thursday is an appropriate time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio.

Under the plan, Ukraine would cede a part of its eastern region to Russia and cut the size of its military, according to a draft obtained by AFP.

Kiev will pledge never to join NATO, and will not get the Western peacekeepers they have asked for, although European warplanes will remain stationed in Poland.

Trump said that if fighting continued, the Ukrainians would also lose territories that they would have to cede to Russia under his peace plan.

“Whatever you want to say, they were very brave,” he said of Ukrainian forces fighting the Russians.

Asked about the possibility of Russia attacking other countries in Europe in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine, the Republican leader replied, “Russian President Vladimir Putin is not looking for more war.”

Trump also said Putin was “taking punishment” for the nearly four-year-long conflict, while the US president said, “It was supposed to be a one-day war.”