US pressure on Zelenskyy has escalated sharply: according to two senior Ukrainian officials.
Washington is now pushing Kyiv to accept major territorial losses and other concessions in Trump’s peace plan — while Europeans tell Zelenskyy the opposite — Axios. 1/
The core dispute:
- Russia demands all of Donbas, including areas it doesn’t control.
- Ukraine demands binding US security guarantees.
Ukrainian officials say the latest US proposal got worse after Kushner and Witkoff’s 5-hour meeting with Putin in the Kremlin. 2/
Kyiv claims Kushner and Witkoff pushed for a yes on the call.
Ukrainian official: It felt like the US was trying to sell us the Russian desire to take the whole Donbas and wanted Zelenskyy to accept it over the phone. 3/
Zelenskyy: There is a proposal from our partners to exchange part of the temporarily occupied Donetsk region and the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant for territories that the Russians have not yet captured.
We are not considering this option - Suspline.
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Zelenskyy: The European-Ukrainian version of the peace plan will be ready and presented to the US political leadership tomorrow.
Zelenskyy: The US peace plan has been reduced to 20 points — provisions that were the most controversial for Ukraine have been removed.
2/
Zelenskyy: Trump has his own vision of ending the war, which differs from ours.
The Americans will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine. They earn money from this, and it is in line with their current policy.
3/
Kasyanov, Putin’s first-term PM, says Putin reshaped Russia by “poisoning minds” with fear, loyalty tests and money.
He recalls Putin warning him: “If you get into politics, I’ll crush you.” He says this tactic later spread from elites to the whole population - The Times. 1/
After he distanced himself, Putin revived an old smear calling him “Misha two per cent” — a claim that he took a 2% cut from big deals while in office.
Kasyanov says the accusation was false but used to damage him and signal how dissenters would be handled. 2/
Russia later labeled him a “foreign agent” in 2023 and a “terrorist and extremist” in 2025.
The FSB accused him and other exiled opposition figures of plotting to overthrow Putin and funding Ukrainian units. 3/