Name: Why Zelenskyy has not publicly slammed US-backed peace proposal | DW News
Uploaded: 2025-11-21T17:12:14.000Z
Duration: 16 min 9 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Modal verbs - B1

The leaders of Germany, France and Britain have stressed that the Ukrainian military must remain capable of defending the country's sovereignty.

Adverbs of degree

In a joint phone call with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they assured Ukraine of their continued and full support on the path to a lasting and just peace.

Backed plan to end Russia's war on Ukraine would require significant military concessions from Kyiv that experts say would leave Ukraine unable to defend itself against further Russian aggression.

The plan was drawn up by US And Russian officials with no apparent input from Kyiv.

In a matter of seconds, Russian strikes tore through this residential district in Ukraine's southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Over a single day, Russian forces carried out nearly 400 attacks across the region, hitting 16 such settlements.

Several people were killed and scores of Ukrainians left without a roof over their heads.

As Ukrainians face daily bombardments, negotiations far from the frontline are circling a possible peace deal.

In Kyiv, US army secretary Dan Driscoll met president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to brief him on a 28 point peace plan reportedly hammered out with Moscow behind closed doors without Ukraine in the room.

Defend your right to exist and losing should face and when we the army look and see how well you guys have done, it's remarkable.

We are thankful to president Trump to look at this.

Zelensky wants to negotiate further, insisting any talks must involve European leaders and must keep Ukraine at the table.

I expect to speak with President Trump in the coming days.

We are aware that America's strength and support can bring peace closer in reality and we do not want to lose that.

But we also understand that Russia has no real desire for peace.

Otherwise they would not have started this war.

Nearly four years after Vladimir Putin's full scale invasion, Russian forces now hold large parts of eastern Ukraine, including most of the Donbas region around Donetsk and Luhansk.

S backed draft peace plan would lock in much of that control.

It would require Ukraine to formally cede the Donbas to Russia.

Keep Ukraine out of NATO with allied fighter jets instead based in Poland to protect Ukrainian airspace and cap Ukrainian armed forces at 600,000 troops in exchange for security guarantees and sanctions relief for Russia in Europe.

Many fear the draft could leave Ukraine negotiating from a position of weakness.

I still consider it to be a list of issues that urgently need to be discussed between Ukraine and Russia, not a final plan.

It will be Ukraine that has to decide what compromises to make.

Just as Russia has to make such decisions.

On its part, EU leaders say a workable peace plan needs buy in from both Ukraine and Europe.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has been careful not to publicly reject the proposal, cautious of straining ties with Washington.

But with none of the key players on the same pa, a deal to end the war still appears distant.

We're joined now by Roman Goncharenko from DW's Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe department.

Roman Volodymyr Zelenskyy has so far been careful not to criticize the U.

What strategy do you see him pursuing in response to this proposal?

I think there could be three reasons for that.

One, Zelensky is still hoping to renegotiate that peace plan.

So he's going to talk to Donald Trump personally and persuade to change it.

He's also going to get support from Ukraine's European partners, also from Germany.

And we should remember that the coalition of the willing, so called coalition of the willing.

So countries that are ready to do more for Ukraine and supporting Ukraine strongly, they have their own peace plan.

And Ukraine would like to discuss that plan with Donald Trump.

It is not quite clear as we speak if that could succeed.

The second reason is, of course, Ukraine is very much dependent on the US Military help, so it cannot allow any strong language.

And the third reason is, I think his past experience of President Zelenskyy, who already knows that criticism, public criticism of Donald Trump, is not a good way to talk to him.

What are the chances, Roman, that Ukraine will accept the kinds of concessions that the plan calls for?

Well, it is difficult to predict anything at the moment, but

I don't think Ukraine is ready for major concessions.

For example, Ukraine, it's a red line for Zelensky and for Ukraine to just hand over territories that are under Kyiv's control.

So where Russia wants to have those territories, especially in the Donetsk region, which is the biggest chunk of that part of Ukraine that Russia wants to have.

So I don't think Ukraine is ready to go anywhere near a concession there.

On the other hand, a lot will depend on the security guarantees for Ukraine.

And what we've seen in that plan so far has been very vague.

It is not clear what will happen if Russia attacks again.

So I could assume that if there are really strong security guarantees and there are some options on that part, that Ukraine might do some concessions.

But at the moment, it doesn't look like that.

The US Proposal, let's be honest about it, it echoes many of Moscow's maximalist Demands.

You mentioned territorial concessions already.

It essentially strips Ukraine of its sovereignty.

It was developed without any input from Ukraine or Europe or why would the US Think that approach would be acceptable?

It looks like it could be that Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised something to Donald Trump, maybe some business opportunities.

We see some parts, some hints on that in that peace plan, about business opportunities for United States in Ukraine and with Russia as well.

Russia can, of course, offer much more than Ukraine can.

And we should not forget Russia is at the moment winning on the battlefield, and

So Vladimir Putin could have said to Donald Trump or his representatives, look, we are winning.

Ukraine is weak and getting weaker, weaker every day, every week.

You are not ready to support Ukraine more.

So you can either accept this deal or wait, and

then you will have to accept it three or four months later.

What does this plan mean for President Zelensky personally?

He's under tremendous pressure now, isn't he?

Indeed, he's probably under the strongest pressure since the full scale Russian invasion in 2022.

So he's under pressure because his army is losing territory.

It's not much about the weapons, but it's about personnel.

This is the reason why Russia is advancing in the east, but

not also there, also in the south, which is very dangerous for Ukraine because it looks like they don't have enough, not enough structures of concrete and metal and minefields, things like that, to stop the Russian advancement in the south, in the region of Zaporizhzhia.

On the other hand, he's, as you've mentioned, under pressure domestically, politically, because of that corruption scandal.

And of course, pressure is growing also from the outside because of that scandal.

So Zelenskyy is in a very dire situation.

But on the other hand, I do not see that his position might be catastrophic.

So I think that he still might find a way out of this.

He's under pressure to hold elections, which is one of the points of that plan, one of the issues.

And for that to happen, Zelenskyy might, I think he might consider that, but there is a precondition.

So Zelenskyy needs a ceasefire and a longer ceasefire, and

he needs to be sure that Russia will not use that ceasefire to advance.

But as you've said, he's in a very, very difficult situation, under enormous pressure.

That was Roman Goncharenko from DW's Russia, Ukraine and Eastern European department.

Well, the plan is asking for major concessions from Ukraine, but

so far, at least, Zelensky appears reluctant to criticise or reject it.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Why Zelenskyy has not publicly slammed US-backed peace proposal | DW News

essentially

situation

guarantee

basically