Sign our deal or face defeat, Trump and Putin tell Ukraine

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have told Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to their peace plan by Thursday or face defeat.

The US president said the deadline was “appropriate”, and American officials threatened to stop sending weapons and sharing intelligence with Ukraine if the demands were not met.

Putin said “Ukraine and its European allies” were still “dreaming” of defeating Russia on the battlefield, but that his troops would take more territory by force if the deal was not agreed.

He said: “If Kyiv does not want to discuss President Trump’s proposals, and refuses to do so, then both it and the European warmongers must understand that the events that took place in Kupiansk [a recent victory for Russia] will inevitably be repeated in other key sectors of the front.”

European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer were scrambling to meet on Saturday to discuss alternatives to the plan. EU officials suggested they had been caught by surprise. Mr Zelensky joined a call with European leaders, and later warned that Ukraine risked losing the US as a military partner.

The plan, first published in full by The Telegraph, calls on Ukraine to surrender the Donbas regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, slash the size of its armed forces and give up any hope of joining Nato. Two Ukrainian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described it as “horrible” and “terrible”.

The agreement would also force Nato to rule out any further expansion and force it to the negotiating table with Putin over other European security issues.

Mr Trump said Mr Zelensky would “have to like” the peace proposal despite the unfavourable terms. Speaking in the Oval Office, he said he had spoken with Kyiv and a deal was “getting reasonably close”.

www.telegraph.co.uk