President Trump said the U.S. peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war is not his final offer.
The president said Saturday that the 28-point plan isn’t his final offer, but “we’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago.”
He said that if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t want to agree to the plan, he “can continue to fight his little heart out.”
The 28-point plan was created by the Trump administration and the Russian Kremlin without input from Ukraine. Mr. Trump said earlier this week that he wants the plan to be agreed to by Mr. Zelenskyy by Thanksgiving.
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the plan on Friday, but Ukraine seems less open to it.
Some of the key points of the plan include Ukraine giving up parts of its territory in the east, agreeing to never join NATO and limiting the size of its military.
Ukrainian leaders say the plan makes Ukraine concede too much to Russia.
“Now, Ukraine can face a very difficult choice, either losing dignity or risk losing a major partner,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a speech to the nation Friday.
Vice President J.D. Vance said Friday that any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine must stop the killing while still preserving sovereignty in Ukraine, be agreed upon by Russia and Ukraine and make sure the war doesn’t restart.
“Every criticism of the peace framework the administration is working on either misunderstands the framework or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” he wrote on social media. “There is a fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand. Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land. It might be made by smart people living in the real world.”
However, some U.S. lawmakers across the aisle have expressed concern about the plan.
“While there are many good ideas in the proposed Russia-Ukraine peace plan, there are several areas that are very problematic and can be made better. The goal of any peace deal is to end the war honorably and justly — and not create new conflict,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, wrote on X Saturday.
Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said the 28-point plan works in Mr. Putin’s favor.
“I fear that—nearly four years into this war—far too many people, including some of our very own leaders, have lost sense of the dimensions and stakes of this conflict,” he wrote on X Saturday. “Vladimir Putin is a thug and a butcher. And Trump’s so-called “peace plan” gives this thug and butcher just about everything that he wants.”
Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican, wrote on X Friday that the “so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace.”
“Ukraine should not be forced to give up its lands to one of the world’s most flagrant war criminals in Vladimir Putin,” he said. “The size and disposition of Ukraine’s armed forces is a sovereign choice for its government and people. And any assurances provided to Putin should not reward his malign behavior or undermine the security of the United States or allies.”
U.S. officials, including Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, will reportedly meet with a Ukrainian delegation in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday to push for the plan.
There are plans for a separate meeting with a Russian delegation, a top U.S. official told ABC News, but no details about location or time have been provided.
