Zelenskyy is sure Trump has no oven-ready peace plan yet

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sure that US President Donald Trump does not yet have a concrete plan to resolve the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Zelenskyy welcomed the willingness of Trump’s team to end the war but emphasised that in his view, a clear action plan has not yet been developed.

"I’m sure there isn’t a ready plan yet. Why? Because a plan can’t be purely American. Because the war is happening here. And without our joint work, without consulting us, I think it can’t be complete," Zelenskyy said in an interview with The Economist. 

Zelenskyy added that Trump’s team likely has some ideas that he should know about, but he has yet to be told about them.

"And we haven’t seen those developments yet. We haven’t seen them, and we haven’t heard any proposals. That’s it. I think February will be the month when this work begins. I think President Trump is dealing with domestic issues in the United States, and I think that’s his priority. At least, that’s what we see in the public domain, and I don’t have any other information," he added. 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group on 12 February that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is not a realistic goal.

He also said the US does not consider NATO membership for Ukraine a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.

The US believes that driving down energy prices coupled with more effective enforcement of energy sanctions could help bring Russia to the negotiating table to resolve the war in Ukraine.