Zelensky receives Trump's peace plan and shows willingness to negotiate it

BrusselsThe day after secret negotiations between Washington and Moscow regarding a purported Trump administration peace plan to end the war in Ukraine were leaked, Volodymyr Zelensky received the document. Aware that he is not in a position to rule out any US diplomatic move, the Ukrainian president said he hopes to discuss the plan's contents with Donald Trump in the coming days, despite its significant concessions to Moscow.

The Trump administration and the Vladimir Putin regime They have not consulted the European blog at any point. when negotiating a potential truce or peace agreement. In fact, both powers have not included Ukraine in the latest truce discussions, and the day after this 28-point plan was made public, a US envoy traveled to Ukraine to deliver the document, previously negotiated with Moscow, and pressure Zelensky's government to comply.

The Ukrainian president's office reported Thursday afternoon that Zelensky had received the plan during a meeting with US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. Washington has decided to send a high-level Pentagon representative to Kyiv, who met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Xmihal on Wednesday. Zelensky's office reported that they "discussed options for achieving real peace, as well as new impetus for diplomacy." "Our teams—Ukraine and the United States—will work on the provisions of the plan to end the war. We are ready for constructive, sincere, and swift work," it added.

Zelensky's office has not directly addressed the content of the 28-point plan, but has said that the Ukrainian leader has "outlined the fundamental principles that matter" in Ukraine. "In the coming days, the President of Ukraine looks forward to discussing with President Trump the existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points needed to achieve peace," the statement added.

For her part, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has asserted that the Trump administration is negotiating the peace plan with Ukraine and Russia "equally," after the Axios website reported that an agreement is being forged between the US and Russia. According to Leavitt at a press conference, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio "have been working on a plan quietly for the past month and have been engaging with both sides, Russia and Ukraine, equally."

Criticism from Brussels

In Europe, Trump's plan has been met with skepticism and criticism, as it is seen as yet another example of Washington's contempt for its European allies. It doesn't matter that the European Union has been the partner that has contributed the most money to help Ukraine, that it is the ally that has suffered most directly from the consequences of Russian expansionism, and that its security depends largely on ending the war.

As is typical with Trump, the United States completely relegates the European Union to the sidelines, and in turn, European leaders are reacting by demanding a seat at the negotiating table. "For the war to end, Ukrainians and Europeans must be on board with the plans," the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kakha Kallas, told the media at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Thursday.

Kallas, however, was not the only leader to reiterate this request the day after the news broke of the resumption of peace negotiations between Washington and Moscow. The vast majority of foreign ministers from the European bloc agree and categorically oppose any concessions on Putin's maximalist demands, which the US administration has already accepted on more than one occasion. "Any decision on the future of Ukraine cannot be made behind their backs, nor behind the backs of the European Union and Europeans. [...] And not only can it not be made behind their backs, but they must be at the absolute center of any decision," stated Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.

Despite these demands, the European Union's position vis-à-vis the Trump administration, which disdains it, is extremely weak. And, at least until now, both with the tariff conflict and the Gaza war, European leaders have bowed to American interests, adopted a low profile, and accepted the whims of the White House occupant. The question, then, is to what extent the EU and Volodymyr Zelensky can withstand Trump's pressure to accept a peace agreement that, if Putin accepts it, would be detrimental to Ukraine and European security, and beneficial to Russian expansionism. For the moment, European leaders are trying to hold firm. "We have seen it before: a peace plan without Europeans and Ukrainians cannot work," the EU's foreign policy chief insisted at a press conference.

Skepticism about the negotiations

Despite the resumption of negotiations, both the European Commission and EU member states remain highly skeptical about a potential peace agreement. "If Russia truly wanted peace, it could have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire long ago," the EU's foreign policy chief reminded everyone, also noting that the Russian military had bombed Ukrainian civilians earlier that evening.

Even if Putin were to strangely change his mind and suddenly accept a truce, European leaders advocate for continued sanctions and pressure on Russia to ensure it arrives at any potential negotiating table as weakened as possible. For this reason, Kallas and the European ministers have defended the application of sanctions packages against the Kremlin and their intention to, for example, continue fighting against the so-called Russian ghost fleet. These are the ships that circumvent European Union restrictions and transport Russian-origin fossil fuels around the world, generating significant revenue for Putin's regime—precisely what the EU wants to prevent.