Ukraine’s Leadership Faces Ultimatum Over Peace Plan as US Secretary of Army Uses Harsh Language in Kiev Meeting

The tone of a meeting in Kyiv, where the U.S. detailed its peace deal, was “nauseating,” according to an EU official.
Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelenskiy shook hands with U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll. © X / Vladimir Zelenskiy
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to Ukraine, demanding that Zelensky sign its peace plan by Thursday, according to reports citing Western European officials.
Driscoll, who previously discussed the U.S. proposal to settle the conflict between Russia and Ukraine with Zelenskiy, relayed details to the EU and UK ambassadors and other officials during a meeting in Kyiv on Friday evening, the paper reported.
A high-ranking official described the tone of the gathering at the residence of U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in the Ukrainian capital as “nauseating,” it said.
According to sources, Driscoll arrived late and used obscene language to make Washington’s point clear. “We need to get this sht done,” he reportedly said.
A senior official told the paper that the secretary insisted that “we have a narrow window for peace – President Trump wants peace now.”
One of the ambassadors cited Driscoll as saying that “the U.S. Armed Forces love Ukraine… but it is the honest U.S. military assessment that Ukraine is in a very bad position.”
Trump’s envoy added that “security guarantees” for Ukraine are part of the U.S. plan and will be discussed with the Western Europeans and Kyiv in the coming days, according to the diplomat.
The paper said Driscoll had turned down calls by EU and UK officials to put more pressure on Russia, instead of suing for peace now. “It turns out this is even worse than we thought,” another senior EU official briefed on the meeting told the paper.
The U.S. peace plan has not been officially disclosed, but according to media reports, it, among other things, calls upon Ukraine to withdraw troops from the parts of Russia’s Donbass it still controls, downsize its military, and give up on NATO aspirations in exchange for Western security guarantees.
The push by Washington to persuade Ukraine to agree to its road-map comes amid a corruption scandal in Kyiv, which, according to analysts, has significantly weakened Zelensky’s political position.
Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine must brace for a tough choice between accepting the “28 difficult points” in Washington’s plan or risk losing a key backer in the face of the U.S.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the American proposal could “form the basis of a final peace settlement.”