The apple of discord on the diplomatic front: the US insists that Ukraine give in to Putin, Kiev relies on a new plan

Kiev continues to insist that the war must be frozen on current lines, as peace talks have again stalled.

Talks between Washington and Kiev to reach a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine have stalled around one main issue: how to force Ukraine to give up what Moscow's military failed to capture during the war — the entire Donbas region, writes Politico on Monday, December 8.

“On the territorial issue, the Americans have a simple goal: Russia is asking Ukraine to give up territories, and the Americans are still thinking about how to do it,” a senior European official familiar with the negotiation process told the Brussels-based publication on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss an obviously sensitive matter.

“The Americans insist that Ukraine must leave Donbass…one way or another,” the official added.

Until now, Ukraine has insisted that any peace deal must involve freezing the war on current lines. Currently, about 30% of Donbas (the province that unites Donetsk and Luhansk regions) is still in Kiev's hands.

“In general, the most realistic option is to stay in the current positions. But the Russians are pressuring Kiev to cede territory,” the European official said.

The US is pressuring Ukraine to quickly accept the deal

And the US continues to press Ukraine to quickly accept the deal, with President Donald Trump again visibly frustrated by Kiev.

“Russia, I think, would rather have the whole country (Ukraine, no), on second thought. But Russia, I think, agrees with this (US) plan, but I'm not sure Zelenski agrees. His people love it (the agreement, no), but he hasn't read it,” Trump said on the red carpet of the Kennedy Center Awards in Washington on Sunday.

Zelenskiy did not comment on Trump's latest statements, but told Bloomberg that Washington and Kiev have not reached an agreement regarding eastern Ukraine. Kiev has tried to explain to the United States that by giving Vladimir Putin what he has failed to win in more than three years of war, it will only encourage him to take even more. Kiev also feels pressured by the speed with which the Americans want to act.

“Maybe Trump also wants things to happen quickly, so his team has to explain to him that it is not their fault that things are not happening as quickly as he would like,” the European official added.

Last week, Putin stated that Russia will conquer Donbass anyway. However, Ukraine believes that ceding the remaining 30 percent of territory in the Donetsk region, which includes the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk with a combined population of more than 100,000, would allow Putin to invade Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and Kharkiv regions, Zelensky said earlier this year.

In August, the leader from Kiev stated that Russia would need about four years to fully occupy Donbas.

“Therefore, is it important how America will behave, as a mediator or will it lean towards the Russians?” the European official said, adding that Ukraine is also waiting for clarification on the security guarantees that the US is ready to provide.

Ukraine will present a revised peace plan to the Trump administration. Zelenskiy's response to the issue of ceding territory

Earlier in the day, Zelensky announced that Ukraine would present a revised draft peace plan to the United States on Tuesday, aimed at ending the war with Russia. The announcement was made after talks he held in London with the leaders of France, Germany and Great Britain, Reuters and AFP previously reported.

Kiev wants to balance the US-backed version of the peace plan, which has been widely seen as favorable to Moscow.

The hastily arranged meeting between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday was aimed at strengthening Ukraine's position.

After the meeting, the Ukrainian leader told reporters that the revised plan includes 20 points, but that there is still no agreement on a possible ceding of territories, which is Moscow's key demand.

Zelenskiy said that the American side prefers “in principle” to find “a compromise.

“Of course, there are complex issues related to the territory and a compromise has not yet been found,” he added.

The Ukrainian president noted that the authorities in Kiev have neither the “legal right” nor the “moral right” to cede territories.

“Are we thinking of ceding territories? We have no legal right to do so, according to Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we have no moral right either,” Zelenskiy said in an online press conference, quoted by AFP.