Trump issues deadline for Zelensky to sign peace deal

Donald Trump has warned Ukraine to agree to his widely criticised peace proposal by Thursday or lose access to US intelligence and weapons.

- JAMES C. REYNOLDS

Volodymyr Zelensky said his nation faces “one of the most difficult moments in our history” as he considers a 28-point US-brokered plan that appears to heavily favour Russia.

Kyiv would have to cede land, agree not to join Nato, and accept limits on the size of its military - while Russia would be welcomed back into the international community.

“Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” Mr Zelensky said in a bleak address to the nation, vowing that he would not betray his country.

The US has threatened to cut intelligence-sharing and the supply of weapons to Ukraine in an effort to pressure it into agreeing to the framework, according to Reuters sources.

Mr Trump confirmed he had given Ukraine until Thursday 27 November - the United States’ Thanksgiving holiday - to agree to the deal. “I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines,” the US president told Fox News Radio. “But Thursday, we think, is an appropriate time.”

Russian president Vladimir Putin said the US proposals could be the basis of a resolution of the conflict, but that if Kyiv turned down the plan then Russian forces would advance further.

“I believe that it can be used as the basis for a final peaceful settlement,” Putin told senior officials at a meeting of the Russian Security Council.

The aftermath of a Russian airstrike on the city of Ternopil in western Ukraine on Wednesday (AP)

Putin said that Ukraine was against the plan but that neither Kyiv nor European powers understood the reality that Russian forces were advancing in Ukraine and would continue to advance unless there was peace.