Ukraine risks losing U.S. as ally or dignity — Zelensky
Pressure on Kyiv as US president gives it until 27 November to sign on a plan to end the war with Russia.
KYIV (AFP) — President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday acknowledged in an address to the nation that Ukraine risks losing the United States as an ally or its dignity as he bared proposing alternatives to United States President Donald Trump's 28-point plan to end the war with Russia.
"The pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner," Zelensky said in his address.
"I will present arguments, I will persuade, I will propose alternatives," he added, assuring he won't betray Ukraine.
Zelensky said after talks with US Vice President JD Vance that Ukraine continues to "respect" Trump's desire to end the war.
The Ukrainian leader plans to speak directly to Trump soon, his office has said.
Trump said that 27 November — when the US celebrates Thanksgiving — was an "appropriate time" to set for Zelensky to agree a deal, but he indicated it could be flexible.
"He'll have to like it, and if he doesn't like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting," Trump told reporters. "At some point he's going to have to accept something."
In Kyiv, people were divided over whether Ukraine should engage with the proposal and negotiate a better position, or reject it as a capitulation.
Yanina, a 41-year-old seamstress, predicted the US proposal will lead nowhere and the war will continue.
"Neither us nor Russia will make concessions," she said.
Earlier this week, Russia carried out one of its deadliest attacks this year and one of the worst on western Ukraine since the invasion.
The death toll in the western city of Ternopil rose to 32, regional police said, after cruise missiles slammed into apartment blocks.
The Ternopil attack came as Russia batters Ukraine's energy grid ahead of winter, and with Kyiv's stretched troops under pressure on the front line.
To end the war, the US plan envisages recognizing territories controlled by Moscow as "de facto" Russian, with Kyiv pulling troops out of parts of the Donetsk region.
Kyiv would also cap its army at 600,000, rule out joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization western military alliance and have no NATO troops deployed to its territory.
In return, Ukraine would get unspecified "reliable security guarantees" and a fund for reconstruction using some Russia assets frozen in foreign accounts.