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Trump Paints Zelenskyy Into a Corner 11/24 06:09
With his new 28-point plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine, President Donald
Trump is resurfacing his argument that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
doesn't "have the cards" to continue on the battlefield and must come to a
settlement that heavily tilts in Moscow's favor.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With his new 28-point plan to end Russia's war in
Ukraine, President Donald Trump is resurfacing his argument that Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn't "have the cards" to continue on the
battlefield and must come to a settlement that heavily tilts in Moscow's favor.
Trump, who has demonstrated low regard for Zelenskyy dating back to his
first term, says he expects the Ukrainian leader to respond to his
administration's new plan to end the war by next Thursday.
The president said Friday of Zelenksyy, "He's going to have to approve it,"
though he was more reconciliatory a day later, saying, "I would like to get to
peace."
"We're trying to get it ended. One way or the other, we have to get it
ended," Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday.
Hours later, senators critical of Trump's approach to ending the
Russia-Ukraine war said they spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told
them that the peace plan Trump is pushing Kyiv to accept is actually a "wish
list" of the Russians and not the actual proposal offering Washington's
positions.
The State Department called that account "false" and Rubio later took the
extraordinary step Saturday night of insisting that the plan was U.S.-authored
-- but the incident raised still more questions about the plan's fate.
However, buffeted by a corruption scandal in his government, battlefield
setbacks and another difficult winter looming as Russia continues to bombard
Ukraine's energy grid, Zelenskyy says Ukraine is now facing perhaps the most
difficult choice in its history.
Trump and Zelenskyy have had a tortured relationship
Zelenskyy has not spoken with Trump since the plan became public this week,
but has said he expects to talk to the Republican president in coming days.
It's likely to be another in a series of tough conversations the two leaders
have had over the years.
The first time they spoke, in 2019, Trump tried to pressure the then newly
minted Ukrainian leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.
That phone call sparked Trump's first impeachment.
Trump made Biden's support for Ukraine a central issue in his successful
2024 campaign, saying the conflict had cost U.S. taxpayers too much money and
vowing he would quickly bring the war to an end.
Then early this year in a disastrous Oval Office meeting, Trump and Vice
President JD Vance tore into Zelenskyy for what they said was insufficient
gratitude for the more than $180 billion the U.S. had appropriated for military
aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of the war. That episode led
to a temporary suspension of U.S. assistance to Ukraine.
And now with the proposal, Trump is pressing Zelenskyy to agree to
concessions of land to Moscow, a massive reduction in the size of Ukraine's
army, and agreement from Europe to assert that Ukraine will never be admitted
into the NATO military alliance.
"Now Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice: either loss of
dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner," Zelenskyy said in a video
address Friday.
At the center of Trump's plan is the call on Ukraine to concede the entirety
of its eastern Donbas region, even though a vast swath of that land remains in
Ukrainian control. Analysts at the independent Institute for the Study of War
have estimated it would take several years for the Russian military to
completely seize the territory, based on its current rate of advances.
Trump, nevertheless, insists that the loss of the region -- which includes
cities that are vital defense, industrial and logistics hubs for Ukrainian
forces -- is a fait accompli.
"They will lose in a short period of time. You know so," Trump said Friday
when asked during a Fox News Radio interview about his push on Ukraine to give
up the territory. "They're losing land. They're losing land."
Trump's patience remains a question
The Trump proposal was formally presented to Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday
by Dan Driscoll, the U.S. Army secretary. The plan itself was a surprise to
Driscoll's staffers, who were not aware as late as Wednesday that their boss
would be going to Ukraine as part of a team to present the plan to the
Ukrainians.
Army officials walked away from that meeting with the impression that the
Ukrainians were viewing the proposal as a starting point that would evolve as
negotiations progressed, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.
It's unclear how much patience Trump has for further negotiation. White
House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump's new plan
reflects "the realities of the situation" and offers the "best win-win
scenario, where both parties gain more than they must give."
Asked about Zelenskyy's initial hesitant response to the proposal, Trump
recalled the February Oval Office blow-up with Zelenskyy: "You remember, right
in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, 'You don't have the cards.'"
Trump, though, was also asked Saturday if the proposal was his final offer
to end the Ukraine war and said it wasn't -- leaving open the possibility of
more negotiation. Still, asked what would happen if Ukraine and Zelenskyy
ultimately reject the proposal, the president turned almost dismissive: "Then
he can continue to fight his little heart out."
Zelenskyy is now in a vulnerable spot
The mounting pressure from Trump comes as Zelenskyy is dealing with fallout
over $100 million in kickbacks for contracts with the state-owned nuclear
energy company. The scandal led to the resignations of top Cabinet ministers
and implicated other Zelenskyy associates.
Konstantin Sonin, a political economist and Russia expert at the University
of Chicago, said, "what Donald Trump is certainly extremely good at is spotting
weak spots of people."
One of the 28 elements of Trump's proposal calls for elections to be held
within 100 days of enactment of the agreement.
"I think it's a rationalistic assessment that there is more leverage over
Zelenskyy than over Putin," Sonin said. He added, "Zelenskyy's back is against
the wall" and "his government could collapse if he agrees" to the U.S. proposal.
All the while, Ukraine is increasingly showing signs of strain on the
battlefield after years of war against a vastly larger and better-equipped
Russian military. Ukraine is desperately trying to fend off relentless Russian
aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across the country on the
brink of winter.
Kyiv is also grappling with doubts about the way ahead. A European plan to
finance next year's budget for Ukraine through loans linked to frozen Russian
funds is now in question.
The Trump proposal in its current form also includes several elements that
would cut deeply into Ukrainian pride, said David Silbey, a military historian
at Cornell University.
One provision calls on Russia and Ukraine to abolish "all discriminatory
measures and guarantee the rights of Ukrainian and Russian media and
education," and "all Nazi ideology and activities must be rejected and
prohibited." That element could be seen by the Ukrainian side as giving
credence to Putin's airing of distorted historical narratives to legitimize the
2022 invasion.
Putin has said the war is in part an effort to "denazify" Ukraine and
complained of the country's "neo-Nazi regime" as a justification for Russia's
invasion. In fact, in Ukraine's last parliamentary election in 2019, support
for far-right candidates was 2%, significantly lower than in many other
European countries.
The plan's provision is "very clearly an attempt to build up Putin's claim
to Russian cultural identity within Ukraine," Silbey said. He added, "From
territory loss to the substantial reduction of the Ukrainian military to
cultural concessions that have been demanded, I just don't think Zelenskyy
could do this deal and look his public in the eye again."
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