Western leaders say Trump’s plan ‘leaves Ukraine vulnerable’ and needs work

London: European leaders are seeking a deal with US President Donald Trump to amend his peace plan for Ukraine after warning that it would leave the war-torn country exposed by scaling back its army and forcing it to cede land to Russia.

The strong objections will shape talks in Switzerland to consider the 28-point draft after a backlash in Europe over terms that would end economic sanctions on Russia and give it control of large parts of eastern Ukraine.

Ten leaders from the European Union joined counterparts from the UK, Japan and Canada in warning against key parts of the peace proposal by declaring it needed “additional work” and could not be applied without Ukrainian approval.

While they welcomed the draft and said it included elements that would be essential for peace, they did not single out any positive features and instead named two key areas of concern.

“We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force,” said the leaders from the EU, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Japan and the UK.

“We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.”

Trump’s draft plan asks Ukraine to give up land in the Donbas region along its border with Russia, even though some of this territory is held by Ukrainian forces.

It also requires the Ukrainian defence forces to be capped at 600,000 – down from an estimated 900,000 – and that it give up the use of long-range missiles and other weapons that could reach Russian targets.

Russia would be given the entire Donbas region and Crimea, freed from Western sanctions and restored to the G7, making it the G8 once again and returning Russian President Vladimir Putin to the club of major economic leaders.

Underpinning the deal is a yet-to-be-defined security guarantee for Ukraine from the United States and European allies.

Trump said on Saturday in Washington, DC, that the plan was not the “final offer” on peace terms.

“I would like to get to peace. It should have happened a long time ago. The Ukraine war with Russia should have never happened,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “One way or the other, we have to get it ended.”

National security advisers from the E3 nations – France, Britain and Germany – are due to meet officials from the European Union, the US and Ukraine in Geneva on Sunday, local time (late on Sunday AEDT) to discuss the details of the Trump proposal.

The Trump administration produced the draft after the president’s peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, held talks in Florida three weeks ago with Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy who leads the Russian Direct Investment Fund and is close to Putin.

A senior Russian diplomat left open the prospect of a meeting between Trump and Putin to finalise the plan, according to Reuters.

“I wouldn’t rule anything out,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

The leaders from Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan spoke during the G20 summit in South Africa – an event Trump has chosen not to attend – while also calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the meeting of diplomats and officials in Switzerland.

“Everyone wants peace – except Russia, which continues to stubbornly bomb Ukraine,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement after the talks.

“The 28-point proposal must be strengthened: no border can be changed by force, and Ukraine must never be left vulnerable.”

Even so, the European leaders have not criticised Trump for putting the plan forward and have not ruled out accepting the broad thrust of the 28 points as the basis for a peace settlement.

Zelensky has welcomed the peace plan while holding talks with European and other leaders by phone to push back against terms that favour Russia.

“Our representatives know how to defend Ukraine’s national interests and exactly what must be done to prevent Russia from launching a third invasion, another strike against Ukraine – just as it has repeatedly committed crimes against our people and against other nations in the past,” Zelensky said on Saturday in Ukraine (early on Sunday, AEDT).

Earlier, in a broadcast to the Ukrainian people, Zelensky said the peace plan required a difficult choice, but he did not rule out the possibility of an agreement.

“Now Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice,” he said in the broadcast.

“Either the loss of dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner.

“Either the difficult 28 points, or an extremely difficult winter.”

In a sign of the pressure on Ukraine to accept a peace deal, US Vice President JD Vance appeared to reject the idea that Russia could be defeated on the battlefield.

“There is a fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand,” Vance said on social media site X.

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land. It might be made by smart people living in the real world.”

With Reuters, AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.