By Julia Payne and Anastasiia Malenko
JOHANNESBURG/KYIV (Reuters) -European and other Western leaders meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit scrambled on Saturday to come up with a coordinated response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for Ukraine to accept his peace plan with Russia by Thursday.
The U.S. plan, which endorses key Russian demands, was met with measured criticism in many European capitals, with leaders trying to balance praise for Trump for trying to end the fighting, but also recognising that for Kyiv, some of the terms in his proposal are unpalatable.
On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine faced a choice of either losing its dignity and freedom or Washington’s backing over the peace plan. He appealed to Ukrainians for unity and said he would never betray Ukraine.
EUROPEAN, WESTERN LEADERS MEET TO AGREE RESPONSE
That signal prompted European leaders to rally. At the meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in South Africa, leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, the EU Commission and EU Council met to discuss tactics, sources said.
While the leaders discussed next steps, Ukraine said it would hold talks with high-ranking U.S. officials in Switzerland on ending Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its fourth year.
“Ukraine will never be an obstacle to peace, and representatives of the Ukrainian state will defend the legitimate interests of the Ukrainian people and the foundations of European security,” a statement from the Ukrainian presidency said.
On Friday, Trump threw down the gauntlet to Ukraine, saying Zelenskiy had until Thursday to approve his 28-point plan, which calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO.
“He’ll have to like it, and if he doesn’t like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess,” he said. “At some point he’s going to have to accept something he hasn’t accepted.”
Recalling their fractious February meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump added: “You remember right in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, ‘You don’t have the cards.'”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said late on Friday that any plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine should preserve Ukrainian sovereignty and be acceptable to both countries but that it was a “fantasy” to think Ukraine could win if the U.S. were to give Kyiv more money or weapons or impose more sanctions on Moscow.
“There is a fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand,” Vance wrote on X.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the plan as being the basis of a resolution to the conflict, but Moscow may object to some proposals in the plan, which requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured.
The peril for Zelenskiy was writ large when the Ukrainian president turned to a national address to prepare the population for a tough few days.
“Now, Ukraine can face a very difficult choice — either losing dignity or risk losing a major partner,” he said in a speech to the nation. “I will fight 24/7 to ensure that at least two points in the plan are not overlooked – the dignity and freedom of Ukrainians.”
(Writing by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by William Maclean)
