President Donald Trump has delivered a "dire" ultimatum to Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelensky forcefully rejected his proposed peace plan.
Trump's peace plan, which was crafted with input from Trump’s envoy General Keith Kellogg, would require Ukraine to make sweeping territorial concessions.
Under the proposal, Kyiv would hand over Crimea and large portions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhia to Russia. In return, Ukraine would retain access to the Dnipro River and a northern slice of Kherson, while the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant would be placed under U.S. administration.
But Zelensky refused to even entertain the plan, and described it as a violation of Ukraine’s legal and territorial integrity.
“There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution," he said, according to Al Jazeera. "This is our territory - the territory of the people of Ukraine."
Zelensky warned that accepting such a plan would only embolden Moscow: “As soon as talks about Crimea and our sovereign territories begin, the talks enter the format that Russia wants - prolonging the war - because it will not be possible to agree on everything quickly.”
Despite the backlash in Kyiv, Trump’s allies are continuing to push the initiative.
Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow to present the plan to Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, while General Kellogg leads the American delegation after top-level peace talks in London were downgraded.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled out to head to Moscow instead, and Vice President JD Vance, speaking from India, issued a blunt warning: “It’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process," per the Daily Express.
Meanwhile, President Trump took to Truth Social to slam Zelensky over comments made in The Wall Street Journal, where the Ukrainian president had doubled down on Crimea, stating: “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.”
He blasted the remarks as “very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia," adding: “Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion.
"Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory, but if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?”
The 78-year-old warned that Zelenskyy’s refusal to compromise could doom the chances of a peaceful resolution.
“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War,” he wrote. “He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire - He can have Peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country.”
Claiming his motivation is to end the bloodshed, Trump added: “I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever.”
The president then issued a grim warning: “The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the ‘killing field,’ and nobody wants that! We are very close to a Deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE.”
He concluded his message by emphasizing his desire to help both sides reach a resolution: “I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia, get out of this Complete and Total MESS, that would have never started if I were President!”
Zelenskyy, however, reiterated Ukraine’s position on peace on Telegram: “Ukraine has repeatedly said that it does not exclude any of the formats that can lead to a ceasefire and further to real peace. Stopping the killings is the number one task.”
But his red lines remain unchanged: no surrender of territory, no forced neutrality, and no erasure of Ukraine’s suffering.
The French presidency backed Kyiv’s stance, stating any peace agreement must include full respect for Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.