Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,367.
Ukraine Faces A Difficult Choice
Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Ukrainian people and said Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv accept within days a US-backed “peace plan” that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions, the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”.
This takes place right after Russia killed 26 people, including children, in the deadliest attack on a residential building in western Ukraine, only 120 miles away from the European border.
In a 10-minute speech outside the presidential palace in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had an impossible choice. It could keep its national dignity or risk losing a major partner in the shape of a US administration apparently determined to end the conflict on Moscow’s brutal terms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned to Kyiv from Turkey on November 20 after a round of European visits that also included stops in Greece, France and Spain. Upon his return, he met with an American military delegation led by U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to discuss ending the prolonged carnage. Following the meeting, the Ukrainian President’s Office posted that Zelenskyy has “officially received from the American side a draft plan which … could help reinvigorate [stalled] diplomacy.” It added that Zelenskyy soon will discuss “existing diplomatic opportunities” with U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to Western media reports the day before, the plan reflects the Kremlin’s maximalist demands and would require drastic concessions from Kyiv. The 28-point draft, reportedly prepared by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff with input from Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, suggests handing over all of the eastern Donbas region to Moscow, halving Ukraine’s military and granting the Russian language official status.
The new initiative also suggests limitations on Ukraine’s long-range weapons, which it has raced to develop during the war. It envisions a freeze of front lines in the provinces of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which are only partially controlled by Russia, recognition by the U.S. and Europe of the occupation of Donbas and the illegal annexation of Crimea, and exclusion of Ukraine from future membership in NATO. In return, Moscow allegedly would enter a formal legal commitment to refrain from attacking Ukraine and other European countries. The Trump administration is reportedly pushing Kyiv to act in line with an accelerated timetable: U.S. officials expect Zelenskyy to sign the agreement before Thanksgiving, November 27, and hope to conclude the process by early December despite likely counter-proposals from Kyiv.
In defense of this proposal, which is highly unfavorable to Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump has been clear since day one that he wants the war between Russia [and] Ukraine to end, and he has grown frustrated with both sides for their refusal to commit to a peace agreement.” European officials have unsurprisingly expressed skepticism about the U.S. plan, which appears to have been drafted with minimal consultation with Ukraine or Europe. EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels, “For any plan to work, it needs to have Ukrainians and Europeans on board.” Ukrainians would likely reject any deal perceived as capitulation to Moscow.
The Trump plan complicates President Zelenskyy’s position. While under pressure from Washington for swift diplomacy, Zelenskyy is dealing with a major corruption scandal that has grown into a political crisis. The Ukrainian parliament ratified the dismissal of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko’s two ministers on November 19. Even so, the opposition demands even more reforms, including the dismissal of Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, a close aide of Zelenskyy, who has concentrated significant political power during the war. The most radical proposals call for the resignation of the entire government.
Russian Attacks on Ukraine
At least 31 people, three of whom were children, were killed and nearly 100 more wounded in the city of Ternopil on November 19 in one of Russia’s deadliest attacks on western Ukraine. The attack also targeted energy facilities as Ukraine prepares for yet another wartime winter. Nonetheless, Ukraine’s air force that day intercepted 442 of 476 drones and 41 of 48 missiles, while at least 10 cruise missiles were intercepted by Western fighter jets.
Elsewhere, Russian strikes between November 17 and November 20 killed 11 civilians and wounded approximately 85 others, nearly half of them in the Kharkiv region. Still other civilians were killed in attacks in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.
By Danylo Nosov, Alan Sacks