Trump team denies pressuring Ukraine into rapid "peace deal" – WSJ

Dec 10, 2025 - 05:04

The administration of US President Donald Trump insists that it is not pressuring Kyiv to accept any settlement of Russia's aggression against Ukraine that the Ukrainian side considers unacceptable.

Source: European Pravda, citing The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)

Details: Unnamed officials from Trump's team told the WSJ that the administration's goal is to reach an agreement acceptable to both sides, one that ensures Ukraine's sovereignty and protects it in the long term.

The officials noted that direct negotiations between Rustem Umierov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, and senior Trump negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner demonstrate that Washington has no intention of betraying Kyiv.

One official said the key contentious issues are which Ukrainian territories would have to be ceded to Russia under the peace plan, whether Ukraine could ever join NATO and how frozen Russian assets in Europe might be used to finance Ukraine's recovery.

The WSJ notes that the latest version of the plan no longer contains a clause explicitly prohibiting Ukraine from joining NATO, although the issue is not addressed at all in the document.

Another unresolved question is how to ensure that Russia does not resume the war in the future or attempt to seize new parts of Ukraine.

Many European officials have privately said that reconciling the differences between Russia, the US and Ukraine on key issues may take weeks or even months, unless the situation on the battlefield changes significantly.

"We know the Americans want quick results," said a senior European official. "On the other hand it is difficult to imagine, with [the] complexity of the issues on the table, how we can have quick results."

Background:

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Trump hopes to see an agreement reached "by Christmas".
On 8 December, Zelenskyy met in London with the leaders of the UK, France and Germany. During the meeting, there was also an online conversation with a wider circle of leaders from the Coalition of the Willing, particularly Poland.
On 9 December, Zelenskyy also said that work is now complete on the Ukrainian and European proposals regarding the "peace plan" at the level of national security advisers and they are ready to be presented to the United States.