The US army secretary, Dan Driscoll, briefed ambassadors from NATO nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelensky and taking a phone call from the White House.
“No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present.
The mood in the room was sombre, with several European ambassadors questioning the content of the deal and the way in which the US had conducted the negotiations with Russia without keeping allies informed.
“It was a nightmare meeting. It was the ‘you have no cards’ argument again,” said the source, referring to Trump’s claim that Zelensky had no cards to play, during a contentious White House meeting back in February.
The deal now on offer contains a number of provisions that are likely to be unacceptable to Kyiv, including the need to give up territory Russia has occupied, as well as surrendering further territory Kyiv still controls. It also suggests there would be an amnesty for all war crimes committed during the conflict.
On Friday, Zelensky gave a video address to the country saying it was “one of the most difficult moments of our history”. Ukraine faced a choice, he said: “losing our dignity or losing a key ally.”
Driscoll, a close friend of the US vice-president, JD Vance, who has only recently been put on the Ukraine portfolio, declined to go into detail about whether the deal on the table matched a 28-point plan that had been published in the press. “Some things matter, some are window dressing – and we most focused on the things that matter,” he said, according to the source.
The announcement of the US plans earlier this week blindsided other Ukraine allies, who had been kept in the dark over the content and format of the plan. There is concern in Europe that Russia has had too much say in negotiating a draft agreement, which is being presented to the Ukrainians as a done deal.
Driscoll defended this, saying it kept the process more manageable.
“President Trump wants peace now. The more cooks in the kitchen, the harder it is to handle,” he stated, according to the source present.
Julie Davis, the US chargée d’affaires in Kyiv, was also present at the meeting and told the other diplomats that although the terms of the deal were punishing for Ukraine, it had little choice but to accept or face worse in future. “The deal does not get better from here, it gets worse,” she said.
Trump is keen for Zelensky to agree to the deal by Thanksgiving, which is on Thursday. Earlier this week, Davis told reporters Trump was pursuing an “aggressive timeline” to get the deal agreed.
“We have witnessed an absolutely remarkable pace of diplomatic activity,” she stressed, speaking on the sidelines of a reception for Driscoll and his US army delegation, attended by senior Ukrainian military figures, at the ambassador’s residence in Kyiv.
She added the diplomacy was the “most ambitious” she had seen in her foreign service career.
Asked why Kyiv should be forced to give up territory in the east that Russian troops have been unable to capture for 11 years, a US official said the deal “was beneficial to Ukraine”. They said they envisaged Trump and Zelensky sitting down together and signing a document “for peace”.
The plan was reportedly drafted by Trump aide Steve Witkoff and Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, a relationship that has emerged as a key back channel between Washington and Moscow. Driscoll is expected to head to Russia soon to discuss the plan.
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin stated Moscow had received a copy of the plan.
“I believe that it can be used as the basis for a final peaceful settlement,” he told senior security officials.
