Media: US pressures Zelensky and calls for surrendering Donbass

The United States demands from the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky the surrender of Donbas.

As BAKU.WS reports, this is according to the American publication Axios, citing sources.

According to Kyiv's assessment, this looks like an attempt to accelerate the finalization of the plan before completing consultations with European allies. An American official denied such claims, stating that Washington is also putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking to soften his position.

According to Ukrainian representatives, after the meeting of Trump's advisers Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner with Putin in Moscow last week, US proposals became noticeably tougher. A Ukrainian official claims that the American side expected to receive direct consent from Zelensky to cede Donbas during a telephone conversation that took place on Saturday against the backdrop of three-day negotiations in Miami.

The key part of the discussions concerns Russia's demand for the transfer of all of Donbas, including territories that the Russian Armed Forces do not yet control.

Ukraine, in turn, is seeking reliable security guarantees from the United States. According to Ukrainian and US officials, despite achieving some progress, no breakthroughs on issues of territory or security guarantees have occurred.

"There was a feeling that the US was trying in different ways to convince us of Russia's desire to capture all of Donbas and that the Americans wanted Zelensky to accept all this in a phone call," said the Ukrainian official.