WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump said next Thursday remains an “appropriate” deadline for Ukraine to respond to a US-backed peace proposal, while signaling the timeline could be extended if negotiations show progress.
In an interview with Fox News Radio, Trump was asked about reports about the 28-point peace plan and setting a deadline for Kyiv.
“I’ve had a lot of deadlines,” he said. “If things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines. But Thursday’s, we think, an appropriate time.”
The date falls on Nov. 27, the US Thanksgiving holiday.
He said the 28-point proposal aims to halt the bloodshed. “We’re in it for one thing — we want the killing to stop.”
Acknowledging territorial concessions that the US-drafted plan would require of Kyiv in the eastern Donbas region Trump said Ukraine “will lose” that land anyway “in a short period of time … they are losing land.”
On concerns that Russia could threaten other regions if its demands are met in Ukraine, including the Baltics or other European countries, Trump said Moscow “will be stopped,” adding, “They are not looking for more war. They are taking punishment.”
The reported draft includes demands for Ukraine to forgo NATO membership, recognize Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk as de facto Russian-controlled, and pull back forces to create a demilitarized zone in Donbas in exchange for security guarantees modeled on NATO’s collective defense principle.
Zelenskyy underlined that Kyiv is coordinating closely with its partners to ensure that its core positions are reflected in the negotiations, adding that he intends to discuss the US proposals directly with Trump. The Kremlin maintains that no new contacts have taken place since the leaders’ meeting in Alaska in August.