USA pressures Zelensky: peace on Moscow’s terms in exchange for economic benefits

On the eve of talks between the American delegation and Zelensky in Oslo, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration intends to convince the Ukrainian president to agree to a peace deal with Russia on Russia’s terms, including territorial concessions.

In return, Ukraine is being promised economic benefits.

“But now Trump is even more determined to impose a deal on Zelensky, convincing him that it is not worth continuing to insist on Ukraine retaining the occupied parts of the country’s eastern regions. And that Ukraine can also profit if it drops its objections to a deal, even if it is drawn up primarily on Russia’s terms,” the NYT article states.

The newspaper does not specify, however, whether this involves the legal recognition of the territories as Russian or merely a de facto abandonment of efforts to reclaim them.

According to the NYT, Trump’s aides are describing the current moment as a “turning point” in the war between Russia and Ukraine. The next step, they say, must be taken by Zelensky himself — by demonstrating to Trump a readiness to negotiate with Russia, even if that means relinquishing sovereign territory.

At the same time, Axios, citing an American official, reports that the United States, Ukraine, and Europe are jointly developing peace proposals along two tracks. The first concerns Ukraine’s future: security guarantees, European integration, and an economic postwar recovery plan designed to secure financing for the country and attract investment. The second track is a proposal for Russia: conditions for ending the war, a new security framework between Russia and Europe, and opportunities for economic cooperation after the war.

According to Axios’s source, American, Ukrainian, and European representatives worked on these proposals together throughout the past week.

“The next step will be to test whether this work can serve as the basis for serious negotiations with Russia,” the American official told the outlet.

After the talks in Oslo, Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff intends to travel to Russia and present the developed proposals to President Putin. As early as the beginning of October, Axios reported that Trump’s representatives could travel to Moscow at the end of the month for additional talks with Putin.

According to media reports, at the most recent talks with the Ukrainian side in Miami, the Americans unexpectedly announced a suspension of sanctions on Russian diesel fuel and conveyed Trump’s firm demand to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.