Donald Trump’s blockbuster peace deal for Ukraine includes unprecedented NATO-style security guarantees, sources have revealed.
The president backed a 28-point draft proposal – based on the Gaza deal – that would treat an attack on Ukraine as one on the entire ‘transatlantic community.’
But the deal, delivered to Kyiv last night, sparked a ferocious backlash as it demands Volodmyr Zelensky cede territory, slash troops and hold elections within 100 days.
Washington has threatened to cut intelligence sharing and weapons supplies to press it into agreeing the proposal, sources told Reuters.
‘They want to stop the war and want Ukraine to pay the price,’ one of the sources said.
The NATO-style pledge comes after Ukraine earlier this week pushed back on a draft which only included vague security assurances. The new proposal promises to defend Ukraine for a period of 10 years, with a later renewal not ruled out.
Ukraine is under greater pressure from the US than ever to sign a peace deal, sources said, with Trump determined to end the war which has killed 300,000 people since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in February 2022.
The US wants Ukraine to sign a framework of the deal by next Thursday, a source said.
‘Being f***ing mind blown has become our norm,’ a senior lawmaker from Zelensky’s party said.
Reacting to the proposal in an address to the nation on Friday, Zelensky said he would not ‘betray’ Ukraine, and would propose ‘alternatives’ to the plan widely seen as giving in to a host of Moscow’s demands.
The leader said his country was facing the critical choice of ‘either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,’ and that ‘today is one of the most difficult moments in our history’.
The leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom spoke by phone with the Ukrainian President, assuring him of their continued support.
The four leaders ‘welcomed the commitment to the sovereignty of Ukraine and the readiness to grant Ukraine solid security guarantees,’ German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office said in a cautious statement – clearly wary not to antagonize Trump while showing support for Kyiv.
But despite the pressure to accept the deal, Ukraine will refuse to accept any proposal that violates its ‘red lines’, the country’s top negotiator said on Friday.
‘There can be no decisions outside the framework of our sovereignty, the security of our people, or our red lines – now or ever,’ Kyiv’s security council chief and negotiator Rustem Umerov said on social media.
Many of the proposals are ‘quite concerning,’ according to a European government official, who said that Ukraine’s allies in the EU were not consulted in peace efforts, and that a bad deal for Kyiv would also be a threat to the bloc’s broader security.
Washington’s draft appeared to heed to the demands of the Kremlin, whose 2022 invasion has devolved into Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Under the plan, Moscow would not only keep territories that it occupies but get more land currently controlled by Ukraine.
The West would lift sanctions on Russia and Moscow would be invited back into the G8.
The plan would also pile pressure on Zelensky, requiring elections to be held in Ukraine within 100 days – another key demand being pushed by Moscow, which has repeatedly and openly called for the Ukrainian leader to be toppled.
Zelensky has said he will discuss the plan with Trump in the ‘coming days’ – so far not saying if Kyiv would agree to any of it.
He has insisted his country needed a ‘dignified peace’.
‘With a neighbor like Russia, defending one’s own dignity, freedom, and independence is an extremely difficult task,’ he said Friday.
The European Union has not officially received the U.S. proposal but it would be discussed on the sidelines of the G20 in South Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Putin had not commented but Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister who is close to the Kremlin and Washington, said it was a ‘decisive moment’ and the coming weeks will be ‘crucial’.
Reports that the United States and Russia were secretly working on a plan to end the conflict were leaked earlier this week, but the White House denied that it had prepared it with Moscow.
‘I will present arguments, I will persuade, I will propose alternatives,’ Zelensky said on Friday.
Recalling how he marshalled Kyiv’s response to the Russian invasion in February 2022 he said: ‘We did not betray Ukraine then, we will not do so now.’
He warned that next week his country will face ‘a lot of pressure… to weaken us, to make divide us’, adding that ‘the enemy is not sleeping’.
‘Ukraine’s national interest must be taken into account,’ he said, adding: ‘We’re not making loud statements; we’ll be calmly working with America and all the partners.’
The Ukrainian leader held a call with U.S. Vice President JD Vance as he warned Kyiv risked a rupture of ties with Washington over its plan to end the war with Russia.
Zelensky has been trying for years to obtain security guarantees from the US and Europe, and this drafted plan is the first time Trump has put it on the table.
Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll presented Zelensky with a plan on Thursday stating vaguely that ‘Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees.’
The administration then presented Kyiv with another draft agreement stating more definitively that any future ‘significant, deliberate, and sustained armed attack’ by Russia on Ukraine ‘shall be regarded as an attack threatening the peace and security of the transatlantic community.’
It says that the US and its allies will use military force to respond accordingly.
A senior White House official said that Russia was briefed on the draft.
The document has signature lines for Ukraine, the US, European Union, NATO and Russia, but it’s unclear if Putin’s signature will be required for the proposal to be adopted.
Axios reports that a senior White House official confirmed the legitimacy of the document and said that Trump sees the proposal as a ‘big win’ for Zelensky and Ukraine’s long-term security.
