President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine risks losing its key partner after the U.S. threatened to cut off support unless Kyiv agrees to a peace deal that would force it to cede territory to Russia, cap the size of its military and pledge never to join NATO.

“Now it’s one of the most difficult moments in our history,” Zelenskyy said in a video address to the nation Friday after he was presented with a 28-point peace plan drafted by the United States and Russia. “Ukraine may face a hard choice — either the loss of our dignity or the loss of our key partner.”

Kyiv’s biggest European allies have lined up with Zelenskyy to push back against elements of the plan, which would force Ukraine to give up large chunks of territory taken by Russia, acceding to many of President Vladimir Putin’s wartime demands.

The U.S. increased pressure on Zelenskyy to agree to the deal with a threat to stop intelligence-sharing and weapons supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv agrees to the peace plan by next Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump, speaking Friday to Fox News Radio, said Ukraine is losing land and the U.S. just wants “the killing to stop.” He declined to characterize the time frame as a deadline and said the U.S. had no plans to lift sanctions against Russia for now.

“I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines,” he said. “Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time.”

The scope for Zelenskyy to avoid making major concessions to Moscow is narrowing as his country faces deadly Russian airstrikes on energy infrastructure ahead of winter and uncertainty over continued Western support.

At the same time, the dramatic acceleration in the U.S. push to cut a deal with Moscow has left Kyiv’s European allies scrambling for a response. The European Union has been struggling to agree on a mechanism that would unlock about 140 billion euros ($160 billion) to sustain the Ukrainian war effort as the U.S. dials back its support for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said in a social media post later Friday that he spoke with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who traveled to Kyiv to discuss the issue, for almost an hour.

“We managed to cover a lot of details of the American side’s proposals for ending the war, and we’re working to make the path forward dignified and truly effective for achieving a lasting peace,” Zelenskyy wrote. “We agreed to work together with the U.S. and Europe at the level of national security advisers to make the path to peace truly doable.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom agreed on a call with Zelenskyy on Friday that Ukraine’s armed forces must remain capable of defending its sovereignty and that the current line of contact should be the starting point for any peace talks, according to a statement from the German government.

Putin also weighed in Friday, again accusing Kyiv of being the obstacle to peace and suggesting that it was the United States and not Russia that had proposed the latest agreement.

“We received it through existing channels of communication with the American administration,” Putin said. “I believe it could also form the basis for a final peace settlement, but this text hasn’t been discussed in detail with us.”

Under the plan, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News, the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk would be “recognized as de facto Russian, including by the United States,” Ukraine would also be required to hold elections in 100 days, give up any hope of NATO membership and slash the size of its armed forces.

European leaders will now meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 conference in South Africa on Saturday to map out the next steps, according to a person familiar with matter. Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has earned the reputation of having the ear of Donald Trump, is also expected to join, according to a person briefed on the plans, who asked not to named because the talks are private.

There are doubts among European leaders about the status and legitimacy of the plan, one official said. They also characterized it as tantamount to a capitulation by Ukraine with Russia getting what it wants, the official added, requesting anonymity to talk freely on the matter.

The plan appears to maximize the potential for future Russian hybrid and false-flag operations that would see Moscow claim Ukraine breached the terms and then re-invade, a senior European official said. The official added that it resembled Russia’s demands at previous talks and was unacceptable to Europe and Ukraine.

“It’s about a just and lasting peace, and we consider elements of this plan to be effective towards this goal,” German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius told reporters in Berlin on Friday. “We want to participate constructively in guiding this into a dynamic that will bring us closer to our goal of a lasting peace in Ukraine.”

Many details of the plan are proposals that have been rejected by Ukraine and its allies in the past. NATO member states may also object, given that the plan would curtail the defense alliance’s ability to admit new applicants as it sees fit. Such a move would need the buy-in of all 32 of its members.

The plan entails Ukraine receiving a U.S. security guarantee — albeit one that Washington would be compensated for. The U.S. would also get 50% of profits to rebuild and invest in Ukraine, and enter an economic partnership with Russia once sanctions are lifted.

The latest proposal was worked out between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin’s representative Kirill Dmitriev, according to people familiar with the matter. It follows past Witkoff efforts that Ukraine has been wary of and faced almost immediate opposition from Europe.

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(With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska, Michael Nienaber, Hadriana Lowenkron, Natalia Drozdiak, Aliaksandr Kudrytski and Alex Wickham.)

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