Ukraine’s Allies Rally Around Zelensky as Trump Offers Pro-Putin “Peace” Plan

Allies of Ukraine rallied around its defiant wartime leader on Saturday as they pushed to revise a suspect peace proposal touted by the United States, James C. Reynolds reported for The Independent.

Trump offered allies some hope of salvaging a viable peace deal, telling reporters that the proposal was not his final offer. (Photo: Володимир Зеленський Facebook)

European leaders met in South Africa to review their options after US President Donald Trump set Kyiv a deadline to agree to terms widely seen as appeasing some of Russia’s most hardline demands.

Sir Keir Starmer spoke with Trump after expressing concern that the current deal would not give Ukraine the means to defend itself, requiring a cap on its military and no NATO membership or peacekeepers.

The prime minister said earlier in the day that allies had agreed the 28-point plan contained “elements” essential to lasting peace, but added that the proposal still needed “additional work.”

Trump offered allies some hope of salvaging a viable peace deal, telling reporters that the proposal was not his final offer.

A Ukrainian delegation, bolstered by representatives from France, Germany, and the UK, is preparing for direct talks with Washington in Geneva to review the plan in detail.

“The US peace deal for Ukraine is just setting the scene for Putin’s next war,” author Bob Seely also wrote for The Independent. Ukraine is being asked to give up land and forget the appalling violence it has suffered.

But peace is the last thing on Putin’s mind — winning in Ukraine and then humiliating the West remain his goals.