WP: US peace plan puts Zelenskyy in "agonizing" choice

Rustem Umerov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, indicated during a meeting with US officials in Florida that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might be willing to compromise on territorial issues, including concessions in Donbas, The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius stated.

According to Ignatius, Umerov discussed the US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan and noted that Kyiv could agree to limits on the size of its armed forces and make territorial concessions as part of negotiations.

“Zelenskyy now confronts the most agonizing choice of his presidency. If he says yes to giving up Donetsk, some Ukrainians will never forgive him. If he says no, this tragic war will continue. For all Zelensky’s courage, he may never have faced a more agonizing moment,” Ignatius said.

Ignatius says the draft agreement calls on Ukraine to withdraw from the roughly 25 percent of Donetsk it now holds, meeting Russia’s key demand.

“To reassure Ukraine that it would be secure behind the ceasefire line, the U.S. draft agreement says this withdrawal zone should be demilitarized. A U.S. official told me Saturday that, in addition, the U.S. and its allies would help Ukraine build a security ‘wall’ along the ceasefire line, using advanced technology,” the columnist added.

By Khagan Isayev