US President Donald Trump has issued a warning to Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky, indicating that rejecting his proposed peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict could lead to significant consequences. During a press conference outside the White House, Trump emphasized that Zelensky would be on his own if he refuses to accept the plan.
The draft proposal, which includes multiple contentious terms, was presented to Kiev with a deadline of next Thursday. The 28-point plan includes clauses that have been repeatedly refused by Kiev and its Western European backers, such as Ukraine giving up on its NATO aspirations and downsizing its military.
Trump’s latest statement echoed remarks he made on Friday, when he said that Zelensky ‘is going to have to accept something’ at some point. Trump warned that Ukraine is now heading into a ‘cold winter’ while its energy infrastructure sites ‘have been under attack, to put it mildly.’
‘He will have to like [the plan] and if he does not like it then, you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess,’ he said. According to media reports, Washington has already threatened Kiev with cutting off military aid and intelligence sharing should it reject the draft peace proposal. Earlier this year, the US used the same leverage to press Ukraine into accepting Trump’s rare earths deal.