Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country cannot cede territory to Russia, complicating the Trump administration’s attempts to broker peace. (Francesco Fotia/Reuters)
NO UKRAINE PEACE DEAL AFTER LENGTHY FIVE-HOUR PUTIN-WITKOFF-KUSHNER MEETING
An initial draft of the 28-point plan, brokered by White House envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, spooked Ukrainian and European leaders who said it was too deferential to Russia’s demands. Ukrainian officials met with Witkoff and whittled the plan down.
Zelenskyy told reporters that in European talks the "obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed."
Trump on Sunday accused Zelenskyy of not keeping up with the latest on peace talks.
US ENVOY GAVE RUSSIAN AIDE TIPS ON HOW TO SELL UKRAINE DEAL TO TRUMP: REPORT
"I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago," Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center in D.C. Sunday. "His people love it, but he hasn’t."
"Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it, but Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy is fine with it," Trump added.
Leaked versions of the initial deal had offered Russia swaths of Ukrainian territory, both lands it has occupied throughout the war and the Donbas region, which it has yet to seize in full.
Zelenskyy said in the past week alone, Russia launched more than 1,600 drones, roughly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and nearly 70 missiles of various types against Ukraine. (Oleksandr Gimanova/AFP via Getty Images)
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And talks are heating up in tandem with a brewing scandal in Ukraine that has already pushed out Andrii Yermak, Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff and powerful gatekeeper who was leading negotiations, along with his justice and energy ministers.
Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, has taken over negotiations, but is rumored to be caught up in the corruption investigation.
Fox News' Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/european-talks-reshape-ukraines-peace-plan-zelenskyy-refuses-territorial-concessions