Volodymyr Zelensky rejects demand to surrender Ukrainian land in Trump-backed deal
The Ukrainian leader finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place as Trump progressively loses patience with Zelensky for not accepting the central tenets of a US-drafted pro-Russian peace plan.
A frustrated Trump now claims Russia is slowly winning the war and Zelensky should cut a deal and “start accepting things”.
But Zelensky has clearly decided there are limits to pandering to the demands of the US President. After meeting with British, French and German leaders in London, Zelensky flatly rejected a key plank in the US-backed proposal - the demand that Ukraine hand to Russia the 14.5 per cent of the eastern Donbas region which Russia has failed to conquer.
“Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don’t want to cede anything,” Zelensky said. “That is what we are fighting for.’
It is a stand which is understandable on strategic, political and moral grounds. Zelensky would never be able to sell to his people the surrender to Russia of land which thousands of Ukrainians have died defending. That territory would also immediately become a potential springboard for the Russians to attack Ukraine in the future.
But Zelensky’s stand will infuriate Trump who believes the surrender of this land is a worthy price to pay for peace. It also risks torpedoing the peace negotiations altogether given that Moscow insists it will keep fighting if Ukraine does not surrender all of eastern Donbas.
Trump blows hot and cold on Zelensky but right now he has entered yet another cold phase, blaming Zelensky for the lack of progress on peace negotiations.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to make no demands on Putin to offer meaningful concessions as a part of any peace proposal.
The Trump administration has played its hand poorly in these negotiations. By initially drafting and supporting a 29 point proposal for peace which was so pro-Russian it could have been drafted by the Kremlin, Washington has only emboldened Putin to hold out for a peace deal on his own maximalist terms.
Zelensky, in concert with European leaders, has now redrafted a slimmed down 20 point peace proposal which removes some of the most pro-Russian elements, but there seems little chance that Putin will seriously entertain it.
Ukraine’s bottom line appears to be hardening around three key issues. Firstly, it will not surrender unconquered land in the Donbas. Secondly, it will not accept Russia’s insistence that there be severe limitations on the future size of Ukraine’s armed forces, including long range weapons and military assistance from other countries.
Thirdly, Ukraine will not agree to any ceasefire without securing rock-solid Article 5-style security guarantees from both the US and Europe which commit them to helping defend Ukraine in the event of another attack by Russia.
It is difficult to imagine that Zelensky could make peace without all three of these conditions being met. And yet, equally there is no indication that Putin would accept a peace deal along these lines. So the question remains about what Trump does now.
It is a safe bet, given Trump’s previous appeasement of Putin, that he will make no serious demands of Putin in relation to any peace deal. So will he keep berating and pressuring Zelensky in the hope that he gives ground? Or will he walk away from peace talks altogether and let the two nations continue their war?
These are dark days for Zelensky who has already warned that Ukraine faces the choice of losing its ‘dignity’ by agreeing to a pro-Russian peace deal, or losing its most important supporter in Trump.
So far, he has held firm, believing it is better to keep fighting than to be pressured into an unfair peace.
Clarity needed amid a veil of confusing ‘facts’
Volodymyr Zelensky is holding firm on Ukraine peace talks despite ferocious pressure from Donald Trump to make sweeping concessions to end the war.