“Ukraine – Russia”

US president claims European leaders will let Kyiv’s troops ‘fight until they drop’

Donald Trump has warned Ukraine to accept his peace proposal because Russia is winning the war.

The US president suggested his approach to settling the war was in contrast to the Europeans, who he claimed would let Kyiv fight “until they drop”.

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Trump accused continental leaders of failing to adequately support Ukraine, branding some of them “real stupid”, as well as claiming Sadiq Khan’s London had been ruined by “ unchecked, unvetted” migration.

Could this be the moment at which US President Donald Trump washes his hands of Ukraine for good? His son thinks it might be. Donald Trump Jr yesterday told the Doha Forum that his father may walk away from supporting Kyiv, adding that “you don’t know what he’s going to do.”

President Donald Trump has said that he was “disappointed” that his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, had not read the U.S. peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

In comments that followed discussions in Florida between Trump’s envoys and Ukrainian officials, the U.S. president also said that Russia was “fine” with a peace plan proposed by the U.S.

Donald Trump’s advisers and Ukrainian officials said Friday they’ll meet for a third day of talks after making progress on creating a security framework for postwar Ukraine and are urging Russia to commit to peace.

The officials, who met for a second day in Florida on Friday, issued a joint statement that offered broad brushstrokes about the progress they say that’s been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a US-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war.

“Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings,” the statement said. “Parties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, joint US–Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.”

Surrender Monkey News: Macron reportedly warned Zelenskyy US may ‘betray Ukraine on territory’

Emmanuel Macron has reportedly warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy that “there is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine on territory, without clarity on security guarantees”, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported, quoting a leaked note from a recent call with several European leaders.

President Vladimir Putin has warned again that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war in Ukraine.

“Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories,” he told India Today. Moscow controls around 85% of Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory.

What does the latest round of diplomacy on Ukraine tell us about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mood and intentions?

For starters, that he’s not ready to sign a peace deal. At least, not right now.

And certainly not the deal (or deals) on the table.

“No compromise version has yet been found,” commented Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov after five hours of talks in Moscow involving Putin, US envoy Steve Witkoff, and Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

No compromise is no real surprise, considering the Kremlin leader’s uncompromising comments in recent days.

Russia has rejected a revised peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, after five hours of talks between President Putin and US representatives failed to deliver a breakthrough.

The meeting, attended by President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, came after the Russian president accused European countries of trying to sabotage peace negotiations with “absolutely unacceptable” demands.

In remarks that suggested little hope of imminent progress towards peace, Putin said Russia was “ready” to fight a war in Europe.

Volodymyr Zelensky visited Paris on Monday to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and talk with other European leaders, no doubt boosting the Brussels establishment’s ego about its supposed role in bringing the Ukraine war to an end.

Even the New York Times oversold the discussions, saying that Zelensky had “turned to Europe.”

Volodymyr Zelensky cuts almost as lonely a figure today as he did on the first day after the Russian invasion nearly four years ago, when he vowed not to leave the country, but to fight. But there is a big difference. Then, Ukrainians rallied to the cause, rushing to join combat units, showing enormous resilience and social solidarity. Now, Russia’s military advance in the east is accelerating, Ukrainians are deserting or avoiding mobilisation and a big corruption scandal has deprived Zelensky of his hitherto most loyal lieutenants.

Ukraine’s political system is bracing for a “mini-revolution” as the county’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is forced to adapt to life without his closest adviser, chief enforcer and most loyal associate, Andriy Yermak, who resigned on Friday after his apartment was searched as part of a widening anti-corruption probe.

Yermak’s resignation could have tremendous consequences for domestic governance, as well as for Ukraine’s negotiating position in talks over ending the war with Russia, where he had served as the head of Ukraine’s delegation to peace talks with the White House.

“It’s a mini-revolution in the political system and the governance system,” said Kyiv-based political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko. “Yermak was the key element in the system of power that Zelensky had built.”

Andriy Yermak was a constant, looming presence in Ukraine’s government – a seemingly immovable figure on the political stage.

Despite his towering frame, you might not always have spotted him. Yet, wherever President Volodymyr Zelensky was, Yermak was often not far away.

As his chief of staff, Yermak wielded enormous power at the top of government and was even trusted to negotiate on Ukraine’s behalf at peace talks with the US.

But as his influence grew, so did public resentment of the power this unelected official held. His political career came to an abrupt end on Friday, hours after anti-corruption investigators raided his home in Kyiv.

The United States is poised to recognise Russia’s control over Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian territories to secure a deal to end the war.

The Telegraph understands that Donald Trump has sent his peace envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to make the direct offer to Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The plan to recognise territory, which breaks US diplomatic convention, is likely to go ahead despite concerns among Ukraine’s European allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation amid a corruption scandal.

Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies searched Yermak’s home in the morning on Friday. Yermak said he was fully co-operating with the investigators.

The departure of Yermak, 54, comes at a perilous time for Kyiv as it faces U.S. pressure to make concessions to Moscow to end its war on his country and lacks the soldiers or weapons to push Russian forces back.

Of course Freeland met with Yermak and Zelensky recently, she turns up like a bad penny, probably tipping them off about the raid.

It has been 1,370 days since President Zelensky told the world "We are still here," and Canada has stood with Ukraine every day since. On Tuesday I had the honor of standing with President Zelensky once again in Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/ArfjooWahN

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) November 27, 2025