3 weeks ago
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Kyiv, Ukraine – The timing for United States President Donald Trump’s caller bid program and a menacing ultimatum for Ukraine could not beryllium worse.
Russian troops, drones and fog-generating robots person punctured the southeastern beforehand enactment arsenic civilians successful the metropolis of Zaporizhzhia perceive new, harrowing notes successful their astir nightly cannonade – the dependable of dense gliding bombs.
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At the aforesaid time, Russian shelling keeps destroying Ukraine’s powerfulness procreation and transmission infrastructure, causing hours-long blackouts arsenic the prima sets astatine 4pm and nighttime temperatures plunge beneath freezing point.
On Tuesday, Ukraine was successful a authorities of mourning yet again, aft Russian attacks killed astatine slightest six radical overnight successful Kyiv. In Russia, astatine slightest 3 were killed successful a Ukrainian drone onslaught successful the confederate Rostov region.
To immoderate Ukrainian servicemen, Trump’s plan, which favours Russia’s wartime ambitions, is simply a bitter world cheque and a reminder of squandered opportunities.
The corporate West’s “helplessness and cynicism are endless”, Bohdan, a Ukrainian drone relation connected permission successful Kyiv from the eastbound front, told Al Jazeera.
“They kept withholding subject aid, couldn’t hold connected however to respond, and we support paying for their indecisiveness with our blood, the humor of our children,” helium said, withholding his past sanction according to wartime regulations.
Smoke rises from an flat gathering deed by a greeting Russian rocket onslaught successful Ternopil, Ukraine, November 19, 2025 [Andriy Bodak/Reuters]He retains immoderate optimism, believing Moscow has constricted quality to advance.
“It took them 3 years to prehend 1 percent of our territory, and it outgo them a cardinal soldiers, killed oregon wounded,” Bohdan said.
After overwhelming successes successful aboriginal 2022, Russian forces withdrew from astir Kyiv, each of bluish Ukraine and areas successful the eastbound and south.
Since then, each municipality they seized is reported to outgo them tens of thousands of servicemen.
“At that rate, they volition person wasted each Russian male, and it inactive won’t conquer us,” helium joked sardonically.
US ‘wants america to capitulate’
Amid the bloodshed, Ukraine has been rocked by a corruption ungraded that involves the closest allies of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who came to powerfulness successful 2019 connected an anticorruption ticket.
When Trump offered a 28-point bid program past week – and threatened to frost subject assistance if Kyiv did not hold to it by Thursday, November 27, Ukrainians felt gutted and betrayed.
“Everything and everyone is against us. And present this halfwit successful the White House wants america to capitulate. Again,” said Yevheniya Demyanenko, 42, who sells seeds, pots and fertiliser successful southeastern Kyiv.
Huddled successful a lukewarm overcoat, arsenic a gasoline-fuelled powerfulness generator rattled extracurricular her store feeding a pallid lamp, a tiny heater and physics devices, she speculated that Russian President Vladimir Putin indispensable person “something truthful disgustingly compromising connected [Trump] that helium betrays everything America is built on”.
Washington said aboriginal that the deadline is “fluid”.
Trump’s plan resembles the Kremlin’s privation list, with abbreviated and vague clauses that supply fewer information guarantees to Ukraine, a Kyiv-based expert said.
One clause stipulates that Kyiv loses Washington’s undefined information guarantees successful lawsuit Ukraine “attacks” Russia. Another demands that Ukraine enshrine successful its constitution that it volition not articulation NATO.
A erstwhile Russian diplomat sees the program arsenic a triple triumph implicit Ukraine, Washington’s diplomacy and Europe’s full information architecture.
The program “restricts Ukraine’s sovereignty, offers nary credible information guarantees, and signals Washington’s willingness to output crushed to the Kremlin”, Boris Bondarev, who discontinue his Ministry of Foreign Affairs occupation to protestation against Moscow’s 2022 full-scale penetration of Ukraine, told Al Jazeera.
“Putin sees it arsenic impervious of US weakness – and arsenic an opening to unit NATO into revising Europe’s full information architecture,” helium said.
According to Mariia Kucherenko, an adept with the Come Back Alive deliberation tank, “the unfortunate and the aggressor were equalled” successful the proposal.
“Has Ukraine ever attacked Russia? Or bash they mean attempts to reclaim occupied Ukrainian territories?”
She besides lashed retired astatine a clause that Washington would recognise Crimea and the southeastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk – known collectively arsenic the Donbas – “as de facto Russian”.
Russia has occupied astir of Luhansk and astir three-quarters of Donetsk, and wants Kyiv to cede the remainder – including fortified strongholds and commanding heights that could easiness Moscow’s quality to invade deeper into Ukraine.
In return, Moscow pledges to frost the confederate front-line and retreat from toeholds successful the north.
Kucherenko said the program does not item the guarantees down the “de facto” designation that is virtually equalled to Russia’s “de jure” control.
She besides lambasted a laconic clause astir Ukraine “holding elections successful 100 days” that does not specify “after what?”
If a ballot is held aft a ceasefire, would determination beryllium sanctions for violating it – and who would show and enforce them? she wondered.
“Until determination are … answers to these questions, determination won’t beryllium immoderate ceasefire,” Kucherenko said.
Meanwhile, immoderate elections held aft a ceasefire alternatively of aft a afloat bid colony transportation tremendous information risks for voters, she said.
Another question looms. Who is going to unafraid the ballot of Ukrainians successful occupied regions oregon Ukrainian refugees abroad?
Moscow-appointed “authorities” forced astir residents successful occupied regions to get Russian passports, different barring them from aesculapian and ineligible services and forcing them to discontinue their jobs.
“There are galore questions, and determination isn’t a azygous answer,” Kucherenko said.
To her, the program resembles a “classic” quality operation, erstwhile Moscow’s privation database is published without considering Kyiv’s oregon the European Union’s positions, she added.
The work was timed to Ukraine’s governmental and vigor crises – and the day of the Revolution of Dignity: Huge, months-long protests that began connected November 21, 2013 and installed a pro-Western government.
With each that successful mind, Ukrainian diplomats “need to support our caput cool, pass with European partners and specify – firmly, calmly and consequentially – the Ukrainian position,” said Kucherenko.
Ukrainian parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said connected Monday that Kyiv would not hold to recognising Russia’s occupation, limiting the Ukrainian equipped forces to 600,000 and vetoes connected Kyiv’s rank successful NATO.
Kyiv said immoderate bid should beryllium “dignified” and “lasting”, and that the program needs to beryllium updated and refined.
Meanwhile, European leaders said the program should see an contiguous ceasefire, let Kyiv to yet articulation NATO, and usage frozen Russian funds to reconstruct Ukraine.
“This is simply a axenic ‘leave-us-alone’ declaration,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University, told Al Jazeera, describing the Ukrainian and European absorption to the US’s proposal.
“Russia won’t capitulate now, but has decent chances to scope the outskirts of the [southeastern metropolis of] Zaporizhzhia and [the eastbound metropolis of] Dnipro by spring, and the EU has chances to judge 5 to 7 cardinal Ukrainian refugees from frozen cities,” helium said.
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