According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Ukraine and its European allies delivered President Trump a response to his team’s previous peace proposal in an attempt to speed up cease-fire negotiations with Russia, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated.
However, significant divisions persist, both parties acknowledged, especially concerning Ukrainian territory that Moscow seeks to control and Kyiv refuses to surrender unilaterally.
“The discussion is ongoing on these different positions,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday. He noted that the U.S. has requested a definitive understanding of where negotiations stand by Christmas.
Merz indicated he hoped to organize a meeting with Trump as early as this weekend regarding the competing proposals. Europe seeks to achieve a cease-fire and stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, to guarantee it with strong security assurances, and to accomplish this while “preserving the security interests of Europe,” including the cohesion of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Merz stated.
Trump revealed Wednesday that Europeans had extended an invitation for him to meet with Zelensky for discussions but that he had not determined whether to attend.
“If we feel like those meetings are worthy of someone on the United States’ time this weekend, then we will send a representative,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. “It’s still up in the air whether we believe real peace can be accomplished and we can truly move the ball forward. The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war.”
In a Wednesday phone call that both parties characterized as contentious, Trump instructed the German, French and British leaders that they should pressure Zelensky to accept the conditions of a peace proposal the U.S. has presented, under which Ukraine would accept extensive territorial losses and limit the size of its military, according to individuals involved in the conversation.
Trump reiterated his public criticism that Zelensky had not reviewed the earlier U.S. peace proposal and the American president offered little sign he was willing to modify Washington’s recommended terms.
Zelensky stated the current version of the agreement limited the Ukrainian military to 800,000 troops, approximately its current strength.
The current text has removed language from the original U.S. document that referenced rejecting Nazi ideology, which was broadly viewed as mirroring Russian propaganda directed at Ukraine, according to three individuals involved in discussions.
According to two of the individuals, the U.S. proposal had required that Ukraine become a member of the European Union at the beginning of 2027, a matter only EU member states can determine. Most European officials believe it will be years before Ukraine is prepared to join.
Ukraine, in its counterproposal, advocated for greater authority over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which Russia seized in the initial days of the war.
The U.S. had suggested the plant should be operated jointly by the U.S. and Russia, supplying electricity to both Ukraine and Russia, according to the two diplomats. Kyiv desires to have joint oversight with the U.S., excluding or at least reducing a Russian role.
Zelensky has previously stated Kyiv is collaborating with its U.S. and European partners on a peace framework, security guarantees and reconstruction plans for the war-torn country. All those discussions continue, he said Thursday.
Territory and security guarantees remain the principal obstacles for Ukraine. Zelensky maintains that he has no legal or moral authority to surrender land to Russia. Moscow has demanded Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern region of Donetsk, which Russia has not been able to capture completely by force.
Zelensky noted that current conversations on territories with the U.S. center on what Washington calls a “free economic zone” and Russia calls a “demilitarized zone” in the Ukraine-controlled portion of Donetsk. He stated Ukraine fears potential Russian infiltration of the area if Moscow is not compelled to withdraw from the zone when Ukraine pulls back.
He said Ukraine wants to freeze current positions, rather than retreat, and that “fair is when we stand where we stand, that is, on the contact line.”
Some diplomats involved in negotiations say that Ukraine may be willing to discuss with Washington the concept of a demilitarized zone in Donbas as talks progress. They indicated Kyiv is likely to advocate for maintaining any area its military vacates under Ukrainian sovereignty, or at least giving Kyiv a significant role in administering the area.
Ukraine would also require stronger assurances that Russian troops could not enter the zone, one of the diplomats stated. The Ukrainian-held territory in Donetsk includes Kramatorsk, one of the largest cities in Donbas.
There have been European concerns that without clarity on the role the U.S. will play in protecting Ukraine against a future Russian attack, European capitals will be unable to finalize their commitments and the more difficult it will be for Zelensky to secure backing for a peace deal.
Europeans have cautioned Ukraine to be careful about making concessions on territory until they have clarity on the U.S. role.
In a post on X on Thursday, Zelensky stated it is “essential that this document on security guarantees provides concrete answers to what concerns Ukrainians the most: what actions partners will take if Russia decides to launch its aggression again.”
He said the two sides agreed that there will be “a clear understanding” on this in the near future.
Zelensky, who also participated Thursday in a videoconference with around 30 other leaders from the coalition of the willing group that supports Kyiv, has long stated that as president he cannot unilaterally determine the fate of Ukrainian territories.
“I believe that this question will be answered by the people of Ukraine, in the format of elections or in the format of a referendum,” he stated. For now, he said, the situation depends on armed forces: “What the Ukrainian military can deter, how they can stand, where they can destroy the occupier.”
At this point, the Trump administration would be best advised to withdraw from this conflict and leave Ukraine to its own devices. The Russo-Ukrainian conflict does not have any vital American interest at stake and the U.S.’s continued participation in the conflict will only increase tensions with Russia and lead to more loss of life.
At the end of the day, America First means getting out of conflicts in the Eurasian plane.
