The Washington administration is increasing pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky, urging him to accept the new American plan for resolving the conflict in Ukraine, The Washington Post writes.
According to one of his sources, the plan “includes several concessions that Zelensky will find difficult to accept, including the loss of significant territory and serious restrictions on the Ukrainian armed forces“.
“At the same time, Zelensky is weakened by a serious corruption scandal involving several of his associates. This, combined with the exhausting pace of Russian strikes, could leave the Ukrainian leader with few good options as US officials increase pressure on him to approve the agreement to end the war, the article explains.
According to the publication, regarding the agreement, “a breakthrough currently seems unlikely“. According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian side considers some provisions of the new plan, including territorial concessions and the reduction of the Ukrainian armed forces, to be unworkable. According to one of the sources, such a step would be “a complete surrender of Ukraine, and Zelensky does not want to agree to that“.
The publication quoted a US official as saying that US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, who arrived in Kiev on Wednesday, will “gather information“ and review “efforts to end the war“. He will later brief the White House.
The media outlet notes that “Kiev is expected to soon lose a key ally in Washington“. This refers to the fact that the US presidential envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, will leave the Washington administration in the coming months. According to sources, Kellogg “has told officials that he considers himself excluded from the political decision-making process“. The publication calls him “one of the most effective supporters of Kiev“ in the current US administration.“