‘He’ll have to like it, and if he doesn’t…’: Trump demands Zelensky accept US plan to end Russia-Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump on Friday (Nov 21) said that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky will “have to like” a US plan if he wants to end the war with Russia. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President has warned that accepting the plan would risk Ukraine losing its dignity and freedom.

“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 the White House. “At some point he’s going to have to accept something,” he added during the Oval Office meeting with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

Zelensky on Friday said that he would not “betray” his country over the 28-point document, which Kyiv view as favourable to the Kremlin.

Over the months, Trump has grown increasingly frustrated over repeated failures to end the war in Ukraine. Earlier the same day, Trump set a November 27 deadline, the day of the American Thanksgiving holiday, for Ukraine to accept the US plan to end the war with Russia.

“I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines. But Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio.

The plan laid by the Trump administration demands Ukraine give up a swathe of eastern territory to Russia and cut the size of its army, AFP reported, citing a draft. Meanwhile, Kyiv has vowed that it would never join NATO or accept Western peacekeepers, although European warplanes would be positioned in Poland.

Trump has said that if the war continues, the Ukrainians would still end up giving away its terrotories to Russia under the peace plan. Speaking of Ukrainian forces, Trump said, “Say what you want, they were very brave.” He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not looking for more war.”