Name: Zelensky ready to work with US on ‘their vision’ for ending war in Ukraine | BBC News
Uploaded: 2025-11-21T16:51:43.000Z
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Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has given a guarded response to a plan drafted by the White House to end the war in his country, insisting that Ukraine needs a dignified peace.

The plans have not yet been made public, but it's believed that they are favorable to Russia.

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Well, Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukraine, including much of the eastern Donbas region.

Well, President Putin's already said he would want full control of Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas.

Russia already controlled Crimea after seizing it in 2014.

But President Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out giving up any territory as part of a peace deal.

One American official told the AFP news agency that the plan does include what they call NATO style security guarantees for Ukraine.

The White House press secretary, Caroline Levitt, was asked for more details about the plans when she spoke to reporters at a White House press briefing.

President Trump has made it very clear since day one and even on the campaign trail that he wants to see this war come to an end.

He has grown increasingly frustrated with both sides of this war, Russia and Ukraine alike, for their refusal to commit to a peace agreement.

But nevertheless, the president and his national security team are steadfast in seeing this war come to an end, to end the killing and deliver on the president's promise.

Holland, North America correspondent Sean Dilley has been following developments from Washington.

You really would like to be a fly on the wall, wouldn't you, when President Zelenskyy phones up Donald Trump, the man who said that if he was president at the time the Ukraine war broke out, there wouldn't have been a war in the first place.

He would sort it out in a day, he said, if he was re elected president.

Well, of course it's proven to be slightly more difficult than that.

And part of the reason actually is because there's rather a lot that he needs to do to please Ukraine and to please Moscow.

The White House have come out strongly fighting against allegations that this is a deal that was cooked up between America and Russia without any involvement from Ukraine, claiming credit for coming up with a deal that's rumored to be 28 points at least according to the AFP news agency and Reuters, who say they've seen this draft agreement.

Now the Kremlin and Ukraine have both given it somewhat of a lukewarm reception.

Ukraine thanking the president for his efforts to make peace.

Rather diplomatic language from a man who was essentially kicked out of the Oval Office by the president and the vice president JD Vance will remember those scenes saying that he's looking forward to speaking to President Trump, but

any solution is going to have to respect the dignity of his country.

And Russia, who say that they haven't had any consultation as such, but

they have had contact from the United States.

Some of those 28 points rumored to be that Ukraine would hand over the Donbass region regime, the size of the army and reduce and scale down the weaponry it has.

And we'll remember, of course, much of that weaponry provided by the US and the West.

Our correspondent Jonathan Bale told me more about the reaction to those developments.

He's been speaking to me from Kiev publicly.

President Zelensky has been very careful as to what he says, neither accepting nor rejecting the plans in this draft peace proposal.

In his address last night, he said Ukraine needed peace, it would would take part in diplomacy, it would issue no rash statements.

We know he will talk to President Trump soon.

But behind the scenes, there is a lot of concern about some of these proposals, which as you say, seem to reflect what Moscow has been demanding, including giving up the entire Donbas region, reducing the size of Ukraine's military, agreeing to no international troops in the country.

And remember, European countries have been working on a reassurance force.

Some people call it peacekeeping force, they call it a reassurance force.

If there is a cease fire, that's been ruled out.

We understand in this, as you say, there is talk of firm US Security guarantees.

There's talk about using some Russian frozen assets to help rebuild Ukraine.

There's talk of enshrining in law a Russian commitment not to invade Ukraine.

I'm not sure whether many people here in Ukraine would would think that's worth the paper it was written on.

But I think overall this is not a deal that is hugely favorable to Ukraine.

It doesn't meet some of the demands it's been making.

They've rejected some of these proposals in the past.

But we know from the US Officials who've been traveling here to Kiev who met with President Zelensky yesterday, presented that plan that they want a quick response.

They are looking at trying to get an agreement within weeks before the end of the year.

So they are planning to go to Moscow probably after Thanksgiving and trying to get agreement there, too.

And Jonathan, I wanted to get your thoughts, of course, because the conflict does continue on and Russia says it's captured the heavily fought over Eastern town of Kupiansk.

We have had some reaction from the Ukrainian military on that as well, haven't we?

I mean Russia often claims that it's got full control of a city when it doesn't.

I think that's certainly the case with Kupiansk.

And what the Ukrainians say is that the Russians do not control Kupiansk.

The Russians claim that they have surrounded the city, that there are thousands of Ukrainian troops trapped in the country.

there's no doubt Russia has been advancing both in that the Haki province, but

also in the Donbas region in Donetsk where they are closing in on the city they've been trying to take for more than a year.

Percroft and I think this is part of the problem that President Zelensky faces that we have seen the Russian advances continue, those power strikes that the Russians are carrying, long range strikes carried out by the Russians of damaged power supply.

So people have power cuts throughout the country at the moment.

And of course his own government is mired in allegations of corruption at the moment.

That no doubt has added to the pressure on President Zelensky and also help the Americans believe that they can get a deal quickly.

So no doubt about it, Ukraine is in a very difficult position.

But that does not mean that it is willing to cave in and it is going to give up this fight.

There is no sense now in the fourth year of the war, there is no sense that Ukraine is, is ready to end this war, certainly on Russia's terms.

And at the moment, Europe, to be honest, has been largely left in the dark on these draft peace proposals.