Trump Paints Zelenskyy Into a Corner   11/24 06:09

   With his new 28-point plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine, President Donald 
Trump is resurfacing his argument that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 
doesn't "have the cards" to continue on the battlefield and must come to a 
settlement that heavily tilts in Moscow's favor.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- With his new 28-point plan to end Russia's war in 
Ukraine, President Donald Trump is resurfacing his argument that Ukrainian 
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn't "have the cards" to continue on the 
battlefield and must come to a settlement that heavily tilts in Moscow's favor.

   Trump, who has demonstrated low regard for Zelenskyy dating back to his 
first term, says he expects the Ukrainian leader to respond to his 
administration's new plan to end the war by next Thursday.

   The president said Friday of Zelenksyy, "He's going to have to approve it," 
though he was more reconciliatory a day later, saying, "I would like to get to 
peace."

   "We're trying to get it ended. One way or the other, we have to get it 
ended," Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday.

   Hours later, senators critical of Trump's approach to ending the 
Russia-Ukraine war said they spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told 
them that the peace plan Trump is pushing Kyiv to accept is actually a "wish 
list" of the Russians and not the actual proposal offering Washington's 
positions.

   The State Department called that account "false" and Rubio later took the 
extraordinary step Saturday night of insisting that the plan was U.S.-authored 
-- but the incident raised still more questions about the plan's fate.

   However, buffeted by a corruption scandal in his government, battlefield 
setbacks and another difficult winter looming as Russia continues to bombard 
Ukraine's energy grid, Zelenskyy says Ukraine is now facing perhaps the most 
difficult choice in its history.

   Trump and Zelenskyy have had a tortured relationship

   Zelenskyy has not spoken with Trump since the plan became public this week, 
but has said he expects to talk to the Republican president in coming days. 
It's likely to be another in a series of tough conversations the two leaders 
have had over the years.

   The first time they spoke, in 2019, Trump tried to pressure the then newly 
minted Ukrainian leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election. 
That phone call sparked Trump's first impeachment.

   Trump made Biden's support for Ukraine a central issue in his successful 
2024 campaign, saying the conflict had cost U.S. taxpayers too much money and 
vowing he would quickly bring the war to an end.

   Then early this year in a disastrous Oval Office meeting, Trump and Vice 
President JD Vance tore into Zelenskyy for what they said was insufficient 
gratitude for the more than $180 billion the U.S. had appropriated for military 
aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of the war. That episode led 
to a temporary suspension of U.S. assistance to Ukraine.

   And now with the proposal, Trump is pressing Zelenskyy to agree to 
concessions of land to Moscow, a massive reduction in the size of Ukraine's 
army, and agreement from Europe to assert that Ukraine will never be admitted 
into the NATO military alliance.

   "Now Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice: either loss of 
dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner," Zelenskyy said in a video 
address Friday.

   At the center of Trump's plan is the call on Ukraine to concede the entirety 
of its eastern Donbas region, even though a vast swath of that land remains in 
Ukrainian control. Analysts at the independent Institute for the Study of War 
have estimated it would take several years for the Russian military to 
completely seize the territory, based on its current rate of advances.

   Trump, nevertheless, insists that the loss of the region -- which includes 
cities that are vital defense, industrial and logistics hubs for Ukrainian 
forces -- is a fait accompli.

   "They will lose in a short period of time. You know so," Trump said Friday 
when asked during a Fox News Radio interview about his push on Ukraine to give 
up the territory. "They're losing land. They're losing land."

   Trump's patience remains a question

   The Trump proposal was formally presented to Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday 
by Dan Driscoll, the U.S. Army secretary. The plan itself was a surprise to 
Driscoll's staffers, who were not aware as late as Wednesday that their boss 
would be going to Ukraine as part of a team to present the plan to the 
Ukrainians.

   Army officials walked away from that meeting with the impression that the 
Ukrainians were viewing the proposal as a starting point that would evolve as 
negotiations progressed, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition 
of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

   It's unclear how much patience Trump has for further negotiation. White 
House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump's new plan 
reflects "the realities of the situation" and offers the "best win-win 
scenario, where both parties gain more than they must give."

   Asked about Zelenskyy's initial hesitant response to the proposal, Trump 
recalled the February Oval Office blow-up with Zelenskyy: "You remember, right 
in the Oval Office, not so long ago, I said, 'You don't have the cards.'"

   Trump, though, was also asked Saturday if the proposal was his final offer 
to end the Ukraine war and said it wasn't -- leaving open the possibility of 
more negotiation. Still, asked what would happen if Ukraine and Zelenskyy 
ultimately reject the proposal, the president turned almost dismissive: "Then 
he can continue to fight his little heart out."

   Zelenskyy is now in a vulnerable spot

   The mounting pressure from Trump comes as Zelenskyy is dealing with fallout 
over $100 million in kickbacks for contracts with the state-owned nuclear 
energy company. The scandal led to the resignations of top Cabinet ministers 
and implicated other Zelenskyy associates.

   Konstantin Sonin, a political economist and Russia expert at the University 
of Chicago, said, "what Donald Trump is certainly extremely good at is spotting 
weak spots of people."

   One of the 28 elements of Trump's proposal calls for elections to be held 
within 100 days of enactment of the agreement.

   "I think it's a rationalistic assessment that there is more leverage over 
Zelenskyy than over Putin," Sonin said. He added, "Zelenskyy's back is against 
the wall" and "his government could collapse if he agrees" to the U.S. proposal.

   All the while, Ukraine is increasingly showing signs of strain on the 
battlefield after years of war against a vastly larger and better-equipped 
Russian military. Ukraine is desperately trying to fend off relentless Russian 
aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across the country on the 
brink of winter.

   Kyiv is also grappling with doubts about the way ahead. A European plan to 
finance next year's budget for Ukraine through loans linked to frozen Russian 
funds is now in question.

   The Trump proposal in its current form also includes several elements that 
would cut deeply into Ukrainian pride, said David Silbey, a military historian 
at Cornell University.

   One provision calls on Russia and Ukraine to abolish "all discriminatory 
measures and guarantee the rights of Ukrainian and Russian media and 
education," and "all Nazi ideology and activities must be rejected and 
prohibited." That element could be seen by the Ukrainian side as giving 
credence to Putin's airing of distorted historical narratives to legitimize the 
2022 invasion.

   Putin has said the war is in part an effort to "denazify" Ukraine and 
complained of the country's "neo-Nazi regime" as a justification for Russia's 
invasion. In fact, in Ukraine's last parliamentary election in 2019, support 
for far-right candidates was 2%, significantly lower than in many other 
European countries.

   The plan's provision is "very clearly an attempt to build up Putin's claim 
to Russian cultural identity within Ukraine," Silbey said. He added, "From 
territory loss to the substantial reduction of the Ukrainian military to 
cultural concessions that have been demanded, I just don't think Zelenskyy 
could do this deal and look his public in the eye again."