Trump Says Ukraine Peace Plan Isn’t Final After Criticism It Favors Russia
The proposal’s detractors are trying to convince the White House that the 28-point plan should be a starting point for Moscow-Kyiv talks
President Trump said Saturday he could be open to changes in the administration’s 28-point plan for ending the war in Ukraine after Kyiv, European governments and even some Republican lawmakers denounced it as far too heavily weighted in Moscow’s favor.
“No, not my final,” Trump said at the White House after he was asked if the terms were nonnegotiable. “We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago.” He didn’t specify what changes were possible in the plan.
The administration has zigzagged repeatedly on aiding Ukraine or pressuring it to reach a deal with Moscow. Trump has previously mused about sending cruise missiles to Kyiv and predicted it might regain all the territory Russian forces occupy. But Trump’s ultimatum to Ukraine signals a sharp turn by the administration to try to force through a deal on a short timeline.
Trump has given Ukraine a Thursday deadline to respond to the proposal, which would require that Kyiv cede territory to Russia, block its ambitions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and cap the size of its military amid other major economic and political concessions to Moscow.
Ukraine would receive funds for reconstruction and assurances from the U.S. that it would discuss with allies providing military assistance and other steps if Russia broke the agreement and attacked again. Those commitments would fall short of a European-led “reassurance force” stationed within the country to deter further Russian attacks.
Disclosure of the administration blueprint, drafted in secret by Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff in consultation with Kremlin confidant Kirill Dmitriev, has roiled the trans-Atlantic relationship and sparked a flurry of diplomatic efforts to reshape it.
“If you ask me personally, I would rewrite everything,” said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, calling the plan “100 to zero” in Russia’s favor.
Some top Republicans condemned the proposal as appeasement to Russian President Vladimir Putin that, if realized, could lead to the collapse of Ukraine.
U.S. Sens. Peter Welch (D., Vt.), left, and Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) at an international forum in Canada on Saturday. Kelly Clark/Associated Press
“We should not do anything that makes him feel like he has a win here,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) said of Putin on Saturday at a security conference of top Western defense officials and lawmakers in Halifax, Canada. “He invaded a sovereign nation. There is no quarter for a human being like that.”
Senior Trump administration officials say the offer is the best Ukraine can get in its precarious position. Russian forces are making steady gains on the battlefield, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is embroiled in a growing corruption scandal.
“There is a fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand” for Ukraine, Vice President JD Vance posted on social media Friday night.
Since Trump’s return to office, the U.S. has limited the flow of weapons to Ukraine, how Kyiv could use them and, until October, hadn’t imposed any new sanctions on Russia.
European officials favor leaving the door open for Ukraine to join NATO and using frozen Russian assets in the West to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction. They also oppose limits on the size of Ukraine’s armed forces in any peace plan.
“Some degree of compromise is needed, but it must be a compromise that Ukrainians, after all the sacrifices they made, are able to accept and are able to carry,” said Ruben Brekelmans, the defense minister of the Netherlands.
Lawmakers said Kyiv’s reply had to be both conciliatory to Trump while charting a course for further talks.
“Zelensky and Europe’s answer has to be, ‘No, but,’ ” said Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.). “Not this. Not yet.”
Coons recalled when the Trump administration earlier this year demanded Ukraine give the U.S. unprecedented access to its critical minerals in exchange for continued support against Russia. Kyiv politely but firmly pushed back and over several weeks negotiated more equitable terms.
“It is a reminder that the Trump administration’s style of negotiating is often an initial bluster,” the senator said, “but then it is actually a starting point.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware Mattie Neretin/Zuma Press
The national-security advisers from France, Germany and the U.K. are slated to travel to Geneva on Sunday to meet with top U.S. and Ukrainian officials to discuss next steps on the proposal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Witkoff are also expected to attend, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Also joining is Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who traveled to Ukraine on Nov. 19 to first kick-start discussions on the peace talks.
Fourteen European leaders, meeting at the Group of 20 summit in South Africa this weekend, said in a joint statement that the U.S. plan “includes important elements that will be essential for a just and lasting peace,” but that the plan as it stands “would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack” by Russia. The plan makes no mention of any caps on the size of Russia’s military.
Lawmakers from both parties renewed calls for Congress to pass legislation that imposes severe economic costs on countries that purchase Russian energy to squeeze Moscow’s coffers. They note the U.S. sanctions on Russia, including those on its oil companies, are biting and damaging.
Russia likely sees a broad win at hand but would also want to firm up some of the more ambiguous points in the document, said Thomas Graham, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. But for now, he said, Moscow is likely happy to wait and watch the tensions this causes in Ukraine and Europe.
“I don’t think you’re going to see the Russians reach out to Washington at this point and say ‘we both need to sit down and go over a couple points.’ I think Putin is going to just sit back and wait to see what the Trump administration is prepared to do with Ukraine,” Graham said.
Write to Robbie Gramer at robbie.gramer@wsj.com, Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com and Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com
See also: Max Boot, Ukraine needs Russia’s frozen $200 billion immediately, Europe [:] With Trump seeking Kyiv’s capitulation to Russia, now is the moment for decisive European action, The Washington Post, Nov 22 [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/22/trump-russia-ukraine-putin-zelensky/]; David Ignatius,"Trump’s hard-sell Ukraine deal is realpolitik on steroids [:] Ukraine has bled for its sovereignty. Any final agreement must preserve it," The Washington Post, Nov 21 [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/22/trump-russia-ukraine-putin-zelensky/]
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