During Saturday's phone call, Zelensky met with Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the former president's son-in-law. The newspaper emphasizes that the pressure to make a decision quickly was significant, and the Ukrainian president informed European leaders that he needed time for consultations.
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Donald Trump's pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky and the need for consultations with Europe. New reports
A Western official quoted by “FT” pointed out that Kyiv “is torn between territorial demands that it cannot accept and those from the American side that it cannot reject“. Simultaneously Ukrainians fear that unilateral US decisions could threaten Western unity.
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As the British daily writes, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner gave Zelensky “a few days” for Ukraine to accept the US peace plan. According to the newspaper Trump hopes to reach a ceasefire agreement 'before Christmas'and the negotiations in practice require Kiev to accept some of the territorial losses in exchange for imprecise security guarantees from Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump associate Steve Witkoff at a meeting in Moscow
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As part of the consultations, Zelensky began his visit to Europe from Londonwhere he met Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He then went to Brussels, where he talked to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. On Tuesday, Zelensky visited Rome, meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Leo XIV.
Work on the agreement between Ukraine and Russia is in progress
Zelensky announced on the X platform that “very active” work is underway on the elements of an agreement to end the war. He emphasized that “Ukrainian and European elements are now very developed and we are ready to present them to our partners in the US”.
Poland and other European countries remain a key partner in these negotiations, and the success of the agreement requires maintaining Western cohesion and taking into account Kiev's interests.
The decisions that Zelensky will make in the coming days may have a decisive significance for the further course of the war and the balance of power in transatlantic relations.. The balance between American pressure and the need to maintain European unity and Ukraine's security remains in focus.
