Trump says Ukraine must give up some territory to reach peace deal

The number of points in Washington’s proposed peace plan on Ukraine has been reduced from 28 to 22, U.S. President Donald Trump said, according to a report by TASS.

“It was only a draft; it wasn’t a plan; it was a concept,” Trump stated aboard a plane heading to Florida, where he is expected to celebrate Thanksgiving, marked in the United States on Nov. 27. Trump was asked to comment on criticism from Republican supporters who considered the initial version of the administration’s peace proposal to be overly pro-Russian.

Trump noted that Russia and Ukraine are discussing a mutual exchange of territories and are trying to delimitate the borders. “You cannot draw a border through someone’s house or a highway. It’s a complicated process; it doesn’t go quickly,” he said.

The U.S. president also stated that, in order to reach a peace agreement, Ukraine would have to give up certain territories; otherwise, he claimed, it would lose them within a few months.

“Look, everything is moving in one direction. Ultimately, this land could end up as part of Russia in the next few months. So either you want to keep fighting and lose another 50,000–60,000 people, or you want to do something about it right now,” Trump said.

Trump stressed that a halt of Russia’s military and offensive operations could be seen as a concession toward resolving the crisis in Ukraine.

He added that the United States’ European allies would play an active role in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.

“Europe will be heavily involved. We are working with Europe on this. Europe very much wants the war to end, if possible,” Trump noted.

Earlier, Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, had stated that Trump’s 28-point peace plan was “unacceptable” for Kyiv and suggested abandoning it.