President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine risked losing its dignity and freedom, or Washington's backing, over a US peace plan that endorses key Russian demands, a proposal Donald Trump said Kyiv should accept within a week.
The US president told Fox News Radio he believed Thursday was an appropriate deadline for Kyiv to accept the plan, confirming what two sources told Reuters.
Trump later told reporters that time was short given the approaching winter and need to end the bloodshed and that Zelenskyy would have to approve the plan.
"He'll have to like it, and if he doesn't like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess," he added, "At some point he's going to have to accept something he hasn't accepted," Trump said.
Recalling their fractious February meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump added, "You remember right in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, 'You don't have the cards.'"
Washington's 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
