Trump urged Zelenskyy to accept Putin's terms, warning Russia could 'destroy' Ukraine - FT
Photo: US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Russia's terms for ending the war, warning that otherwise, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin would "destroy" Ukraine, Financial Times reports.
According to the FT sources, Friday's meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders repeatedly turned into a "shouting match," with Trump "cursing all the time."
During the meeting, Trump tossed aside maps of the Ukrainian front line and insisted that Zelenskyy give up the entire Donetsk region to Putin. He also echoed talking points voiced by the Kremlin leader in a phone call a day earlier.
A European official familiar with the meeting said Trump told Zelenskyy he needed to make a deal or face destruction. The US President reportedly warned, "If [Putin] wants it, he will destroy you," telling the Ukrainian leader he was losing the war.
Trump's combative repetition of Putin's rhetoric on Friday dashed hopes among many European allies of Ukraine that he could be convinced to increase support for Kyiv.
That optimism had emerged after Trump recently expressed frustration and impatience over Putin's refusal to engage in direct peace talks with Zelenskyy.
Three other European officials briefed on White House discussions confirmed that Trump spent much of the meeting lecturing Zelenskyy, repeating Putin's arguments about the conflict and urging him to accept the Russian proposal.
One official said Zelenskyy left the meeting "very negative," adding that European leaders were "not optimistic but pragmatic with planning next steps."
Trump-Putin summit and Russia's land concessions
After his phone call with Putin, Trump announced plans for a new summit to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting is expected to take place in Budapest within the next two weeks.
Publicly, after meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump urged both sides to “stop where they are now,” referring to the current front line. He made no public comments about ceding Donbas.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump said he was confident the war would end, adding that Putin "is gonna take something" since he already controls part of Ukraine's territory.
Meanwhile, reports surfaced that Putin made a new proposal on October 16. Under it, Ukraine would give up parts of Donbas still under its control in exchange for the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The Financial Times confirmed this information on Sunday.
According to the FT, the new offer represents a minor concession compared to Putin’s proposal during his last meeting with Trump in Alaska in August, when he said he would agree to freeze the front line elsewhere if Ukraine surrendered Donbas.
Today, President Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukraine will not give up any territory. In a Friday interview with NBC News, he said Trump's position is that the war should end along the current front line — without any further concessions to Russia.
