Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the nation, Kyiv, November 21, 2025

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Can Ukraine and Europe Push Back the Trump-Kremlin Plan?

EA on Dublin NewsTalk and WION: The Trump-Kremlin Plan for Ukraine’s Capitulation

Friday’s Coverage: Kyiv Knocks Back “Absurd” Trump-Kremlin Plan

UPDATE 2002 GMT:

Investigative journalist Christo Grozev reveals that the Trump-Kremlin ultimatum to Ukraine was developed by the Russians in the spring.

UPDATE 1939 GMT:

Donald Trump has stepped back from the ultimatum to Ukraine while sneering that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will be abandoned if he does not eventually accept the Trump-Kremlin terms.

UPDATE 1442 GMT:

Leaders at the G20 summit in South Africa have said the Trump-Kremlin plan over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “is a basis which will require additional work”.

The heads of European countries, Canada, and Japan said in a joint statement:

We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.

European Council leader António Costa has invited the leaders of all 27 European Union countries to meet on Monday on the sidelines of an EU-Africa summit in Luanda, Angola.

UPDATE 1434 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has conferred by phone with a series of leaders, including Netherlands’ Dick Schoof, Poland’s Donald Tusk, and the heads of the Nordic and Baltic countries.

“Our representatives know how to protect Ukraine’s national interests and what exactly is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out a third invasion, another blow to Ukraine,” he posted.

UPDATE 1426 GMT:

Ukraine said has received 31 civilians freed from prison in Belarus.

The Prisoner Exchange Coordination Bureau posted:

Women and men detained in Belarus and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine.

We express our gratitude to the United States of America and president Donald Trump for their fruitful work in returning Ukrainian civilians and military personnel from Belarus and Russia.

UPDATE 1322 GMT:

Ukraine and the US will hold talks in Switzerland, says Rustem Umerov, the head of Kyiv’s National Security and Defense Council.

“In the coming days in Switzerland we are launching consultations between senior officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement,” Umerov posted.

The Ukrainian delegation will reportedly be led by Presidential Chief of Staff Andrii Yermak.

UPDATE 1122 GMT:

At least one civilian was murdered and at least 13 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 89 of 104 drones. The Russians also fired a ballistic missile.

The fatality was in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, where another person was wounded.

Casualties were reported in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Kherson regions.

UPDATE 1111 GMT:

Ukrainians tell Luke Harding of The Guardian of their struggles amid Russian attacks on energy infrastructure which cut power for up to 14 hours a day.

Valentyna Ivanivna, a resident in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, says, “It’s impossible to plan anything without power. You can’t even invite people round for a cup of tea because the kettle won’t work. It’s stressful and exhausting for everyone.”

Authorities have set up “invincibility points”, tents with power sockets, Starlink internet, and tea and coffee.

But Adam Davidenko, a 33-year-old courier, says, “Russia is a terrorist country. They can’t defeat us militarily, so they decided to kill us with cold and to leave us without baths….We survive. We don’t live.

Serhii Pereverz, the deputy director of the regional company Chernihivoblenergo, adds, “The Russians are trying to make a total blackout for the civilian population. There’s nothing military here. It’s deliberate genocide against peaceful people.”

UPDATE 0830 GMT:

The toll from Wednesday’s Russian strikes on Ternopil in western Ukraine has risen to 33 civilians murdered.

The latest victims is a seven-year-old Polish girl, whose mother was also killed, and a woman pulled from the rubble.

Six people are still missing. Another 94 were injured, including 18 children.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote:

Amelka was seven years old. Seven. A Polish child.

She died in Ternopil during a brutal Russian missile attack. She will no longer fulfill any of her dreams.

This cruel war must end, and Russia cannot win it. Because this is also a war about the future of our children.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: As a Trump-Kremlin 28-point ultimatum seeks Ukraine’s capitulation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told the nation, “We face one of the most difficult moments of our history.”

In a video address, Zelensky said of the Trump-Kremlin demands, including loss of territory, a halving of the military, and a cutoff from Western military assistance:

Right now, Ukraine is under some of the heaviest pressure yet. Right now, Ukraine may find itself facing a very tough choice. Either the loss of our dignity or the risk of losing a key partner. Either the difficult 28 points, or an extremely hard winter – the hardest yet – and the dangers that follow. A life without freedom, without dignity, without justice. And that we trust someone who has already attacked us twice.

Zelensky said he would work “constructively” with the US to amend the Trump-Kremlin deal so Russia cannot argue that Kyiv does not want peace.

But the President assured he “will never betray” Ukraine’s Constitution: “The national Ukrainian interest must be taken into account.”

He praised the heroism of the Ukrainian people while noting the “unimaginable pressure” of Russia’s attacks: “We are, of course, made of steel. But any metal, even the strongest, may not withstand it.”

Still, he emphasized with a reference to the initial days of Russia’s full-scale invasion: “We did not betray Ukraine then, we will not do it now,” he says.“

Zelensky’s “Nauseating” Meeting with Trump Delegation

In an interview with Fox Radio, Trump said Ukraine must accept the Trump-Kremlin demands by the US holiday of Thanksgiving next week: “I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines. But Thursday is we think is an appropriate time.”

After his video address, Zelensky had a call with US Vice President J.D. Vance. The President put a positive spin on the encounter: “We’re working to make the path forward dignified and truly effective for achieving a lasting peace.”

But officials said Zelensky’s face-to-face meeting with US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — replacing Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who has supported Kyiv’s defense against the 46-month full-scale Russian invasion — was “nauseating“.

Zelensky had to go to Driscoll for the sitdown at the Kyiv residence of US Chargé d’Affaires Julie Davis. The Army Secretary showed up late and said in a profanity-laced lecture, “We are not negotiating details. We need to get this shit done.

Driscoll reinforced Trump’s Thursday deadline and indicated that Ukraine’s European partners should stand aside: “We have a narrow window for peace — President Trump wants peace now. The more cooks in the kitchen, the harder it is to handle.”

The US Armed Forces love Ukraine and stand behind Ukraine, but it is the honest US military assessment that Ukraine is in a very bad position and now is the best time for peace.

Davis added, “As much as we can support Ukraine continuing the war, there are limits….There are strong indications that Russia has a strong industrial base and it is a matter of time until Ukraine has to cut a deal.”

Trump officials are indicating that if Ukraine does not comply, the Americans will cut off intelligence sharing and logistical support that had been restored this summer.

One said, “It was strongly implied to the Ukrainians that the United States expects them to agree to a peace deal. Any changes will be decided upon by the President himself.”

A European ambassador summarized, “It was a nightmare meeting. It was the ‘you have no cards’ argument again.”

Europe Maintains Its Support of Kyiv

European leaders echoed Zelensky’s statement about the urgency of the situation and the need to swing the volatile, egotistical Trump, who declared Ukraine would “have to like” the deal.

Gathered for the G20 meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, they concluded, “It is time for the Trump whisperers to start shouting,” according to one official.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky conferred in a series of calls with the leaders: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Freidrich Merz, the UK’s Keir Starmer, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Von der Leyen assured, “We are clear that there should be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

In a joint statement, Merz, Macron, and Starmer diplomatically “welcomed the US efforts to end the war in Ukraine” while standing on “unwavering and full support for Ukraine on the path to a lasting and just peace”.

Focusing on proposals to confirm Ukraine’s sovereignty and provide “robust” security guarantees, The Europeans said they will “continue pursuing the goal of safeguarding vital European and Ukrainian interests in the long term”.

They rebuffed the Trump-Kremlin intention to give all of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine to Russia, stressing that the current line of contact should serve “as the starting point” for any territorial discussion.

And they noted that any peace agreement “affecting European states, the European Union, or Nato requires the approval of European partners or a consensus among the allies”.

“Even Worse Than We Thought”

In Washington, Trump responded to Zelensky’s video address with the insistence that the Ukrainian President will “have to like” the ultimatum: “At some point, he’s going to have to accept something.”

Referring to the White House ambush of Zelensky on February 28, Trump said, “You remember not so long ago, right in the Oval Office, I said ‘You don’t have the cards’. I thought he should have made a deal a year ago, two years ago.”

EU ambassadors and officials present at the meeting in the Kyiv residence said the American message was “shocking”.

In contrast, a US official in the room framed the meeting as “positive, straightforward and respectful”: “There was a good exchange, Secretary Driscoll answered as many questions as time allowed as completely as possible.”

But Davis dismissed the concern of European ambassadors that the Trump-Kremlin proposal is a strategic victory for Russia. When the ambassadors said more pressure on Moscow is needed, the US delegation said the ultimatum was the best Ukraine can expect.

“It turns out this is even worse than we thought,” said a senior European official.

Late Friday, J.D. Vance sneered at critics as he insisted: