After chatting with Putin, US negotiators bullied Zelensky to capitulate immediately during a phone call

From UNIAN:

"Axios: The US demanded that Zelensky immediately agree to surrender Donbas

Ekaterina Girnyk, 09.12.25 

The US proposal worsened after a meeting between Trump's representatives and Putin and included tougher conditions on territorial issues and control over the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

The United States is pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to quickly agree to territorial and other concessions as part of President Donald Trump's peace plan. 

According to Axios, the Ukrainian-American talks focused on two issues: Russia's demand that Ukraine cede all of Donbas, including parts not controlled by its troops, and Ukraine's request for serious security guarantees from the United States to prevent future Russian aggression. 

At the same time, one Ukrainian official noted that the US proposal had worsened in Kyiv's view after a five-hour meeting between Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Putin last week in the Kremlin.  

According to the official, during a two-hour phone call with the Ukrainian president following this meeting, Whitkoff and Kushner "wanted a definitive 'yes' from Zelenskyy." 

"It seemed as if the US was trying to convince us, through various means, of Russia's desire to seize all of Donbas and that the Americans wanted Zelenskyy to fully agree to this in a phone call," the Ukrainian official said. 

At the same time, Ukrainian and American officials note that, despite some progress, there were no breakthroughs on territorial issues or security guarantees. 

According to Axios sources, Zelenskyy stated during a phone call with Whitkoff and Kushner that he had received the US proposal only an hour earlier and had not yet reviewed it. 

"The US official called this odd, since the US had submitted an updated proposal the day before. The Ukrainian official noted that while some documents were provided the day before, others were received shortly before the phone call," the publication notes. 

At the same time, a Ukrainian source told the publication that the US proposal included tougher conditions than previous versions on issues such as territory and control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and left key questions about security guarantees unanswered: 

"There are important territorial issues that need to be discussed in more detail: who controls what, who remains where, who withdraws troops, and if Ukraine withdraws troops from the line of contact, how can we guarantee that Russia will do the same and [not continue] military operations." 

However, as the Ukrainian official stated, the American side apparently expected Zelenskyy to simply agree over the phone. 

At the same time, the American official insisted that the current draft was significantly influenced by the Ukrainian side's proposals, and that Kushner and Witkoff pressured Putin to agree to some of Ukraine's demands."