President Donald Trump said on Saturday that his proposed peace deal is not his final offer to Ukraine, saying that his administration is pushing hard to end the war.
Trump added that if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t agree to the peace plan, “then he can continue to fight his little heart out.”
The White House has given Kyiv a Thanksgiving deadline to accept the terms of the deal or risk losing U.S. support. European leaders are concerned over provisions that would require Ukraine to cede territory to Russia and limit the size of its military.
“We’d like to get to peace,” Trump said. “One way or another, we’ll get it ended.”
Trump’s remarks came as the administration is sending top officials overseas to push for the proposal. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and envoy Steve Witkoff will meet in Geneva on Saturday with leaders from Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said Saturday that “consultations on steps to end the war will take place in the coming days.”
“Yesterday, the President of Ukraine approved the composition of the Ukrainian delegation and the directives for the relevant talks,” Zelenskyy’s office said in a statement posted on social media. “We anticipate constructive work and are ready to advance as swiftly as possible to achieve a real peace.”
“Ukraine never wanted this war and will make every effort to end it with a dignified peace,” the statement continued. “Ukraine will never be an obstacle for peace, and the representatives of the Ukrainian state will defend legitimate interests of the Ukrainian people and the foundations of European security. We are grateful for our European partners’ willingness to help.”
Several U.S. senators have opposed the peace plan he is pushing Kyiv to accept, saying Ukraine accepting it would only reward Moscow. The plan gives in to Russian demands that Zelenskyy has rejected multiple times, including giving up large pieces of territory.
“It rewards aggression. This is pure and simple. There’s no ethical, legal, moral, political justification for Russia claiming eastern Ukraine,” Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said.
King, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, compared the proposal to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s Munich Pact with Adolf Hitler in 1938.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement Friday that “if Administration officials are more concerned with appeasing Putin than securing real peace, then the President ought to find new advisers.”
