President Trump argued Friday that Ukraine will have to agree to a much-criticized plan to end the conflict or “keep fighting” as he sought to finalize the peace plan with Russia by the Thanksgiving.
“They’re losing land. They’re losing land,” Trump told Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show” of Kyiv’s battlefield prospects.
“We’re in it for one thing,” the president said. “We want the killing to — you know, they lost 25,000 people last month between the two countries, 25,000 people. It’s out of control. It’s a bloodbath.”
The 28-point plan, details of which were reported by The Post on Thursday, was presented to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
On Friday, in a recorded address apparently responding to the US, Zelensky said Ukraine “may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.”
“Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest,” added Zelensky, who vowed to “work calmly with America and all partners.”
Hours later, Trump said the Ukrainian president will “have to like [the plan,] and if he doesn’t like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess.”
“At some point, he’s going to have to accept something he hasn’t accepted,” he told reporters at the White House.
The framework calls for US recognition of the entire eastern Donbas region — which has been under attack by Moscow for 11 years — as Russian territory, while battle lines will be frozen in two other war-torn regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Most controversially, Ukraine would have to limit its armed forces to 600,000 troops, enshrine permanent neutrality by pledging never to join NATO, and codify that ban in its own charter.
NATO, in turn, would have to promise not to station troops in Ukraine — though European fighter jets would be based in neighboring Poland.
The plan has left supporters of Ukraine aghast, with Reuters quoting one source as saying of the Trump administration: “They want to stop the war and want Ukraine to pay the price.”
Trump defended the framework Friday, arguing that if Ukraine didn’t agree to it, “they will lose in a short period of time.”
The president also insisted that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is “not looking for more war” once the Ukraine conflict is settled.
“Look, he’s taking punishment,” he told Kilmeade. “Say what you want. I mean, this was supposed to be a one-day war that [has been going] four years now, OK?
“But in all fairness, we gave them the best military — we make the best equipment in the world. We gave Ukraine the best military equipment anywhere in the world. Nobody makes — and we gave them a lot of it. But somebody had to use that equipment, and say what you want, they were very brave.”
Asked about a report by Reuters that the US was pushing Ukraine to agree to the framework by Thursday or risk losing access to American intelligence and weaponry, Trump told Kilmeade: “I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines. But Thursday is it — we think an appropriate time.”
A senior US official told The Post that Ukrainian officials — including top Zelensky adviser Rustem Umerov — had given “positive” feedback and “agreed to the majority of the plan” following discussions with Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami late last month.
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Umerov on Friday denied that version of events, claiming to AP that he only organized meetings and prepared the talks with Witkoff.
Also Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Zelensky to reassure him of their continued support.
The foursome “welcomed the commitment to the sovereignty of Ukraine and the readiness to grant Ukraine solid security guarantees,” according to a statement by Merz’s office.
“They agreed to continue pursuing the aim of protecting vital European and Ukrainian interests in the long term,” the statement said. “That includes the line of contact being the point of departure for an agreement and that the Ukrainian armed forces must remain in a position to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine effectively.”
Zelensky, 47, is in the middle of perhaps his most vulnerable political period since the war began, with Russian forces advancing on the northeastern cities of Kupiansk and Lyman and fierce fighting surrounding the logistics hub of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast.
Closer to home, Zelensky has been mired in a corruption scandal involving the embezzlement of $100 million from Ukraine’s energy sector through kickbacks paid by contractors.
After investigators publicized their findings, Zelensky dismissed two top officials and imposed sanctions on close associates.
One person implicated in the scheme, Tymur Mindich, is a partner in a media production company that Zelensky co-owned before his election in 2019.
Mindich has reportedly fled the country.
Under the US framework, Ukraine would be required to hold elections within 100 days of the agreement taking effect.
Elections have been barred by the Ukrainian constitution due to the declaration of martial law for wartime.
