00:00President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday Ukraine faced losing its dignity and freedom
00:05or Washington's support over a U.S. peace plan which endorses key Russian demands and
00:10which Donald Trump said Kiev should agree to by Thursday.
00:13The U.S. president told Fox News Radio he believed next Thursday was an appropriate
00:18deadline for Kiev to accept the plan, confirming what two sources had told Reuters.
00:23In a solemn address to the nation which he delivered in the street outside his office,
00:27a location he uses only rarely for major addresses, Zelensky had earlier on Friday
00:33appealed to Ukrainians for unity and said he would never betray Ukraine.
00:37Now is one of the most difficult moments of our history.
00:41Now, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the heaviest.
00:44Now, Ukraine can face a very difficult choice, either losing dignity or risk losing a major
00:50partner.
00:51I will fight 24-7 to ensure that at least two points in the plan are not overlooked.
00:56The dignity and freedom of Ukrainians.
00:59Washington has presented Kiev with a 28-point plan, which calls for Ukraine to cede territory,
01:05accept limits to its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO.
01:10The United States threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapon supplies for Ukraine if it
01:15does not accept the deal, the two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose
01:20the contents of private meetings.
01:22The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
01:27However, a senior U.S. official later said it was not accurate to say the U.S.
01:31threatened to withhold intelligence.
01:34A U.S. military delegation met Zelensky in Kiev on Thursday.
01:38The U.S. ambassador and the Army Public Affairs chief traveling with the delegation described the
01:43meeting as a success and said Washington sought an aggressive timeline for the U.S. and Ukraine
01:49to sign a document.
01:54Zelensky held a phone call on Friday with the leaders of allies Britain, Germany and France,
01:56and later spoke to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.
01:59He said he had agreed with Vance to work at advisor level to find a workable path to peace.
02:05Three sources later told Reuters that Ukraine was working on a counterproposal to the 28-point plan
02:11with Britain, France, and Germany.
02:13The Europeans have not been consulted on the U.S. plan and have expressed strong support for Kiev.
02:19We value the efforts of the United States, President Trump, and his team aimed at ending this war.
02:26We are working on the document prepared by the American side.
02:29This must be a plan that ensures a real and dignified peace, he said.
02:33But the plans call for terms that Kiev has rejected in the past as capitulation could test the stability
02:40of Ukrainian society after nearly four years of relentless warfare.
02:44Russia gets everything it wants and Ukraine gets not very much.
02:48If Zelensky accepts this, I anticipate huge political, social, and economic instability in Ukraine,
02:55said Tim Ash of Britain's Chatham House think tank.
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