White House: "US-Russia Ceasefire Proposal Shared with Ukraine"... Pressure Mounts on Kyiv to Accept Ceasefire Again

Caroline Levitt Briefing

The White House announced on November 20 (local time) that it has shared the plan for ending the war in Ukraine, which has been under discussion between the United States and Russia, with the Ukrainian side as well. While the United States emphasized that this proposal would benefit both parties, there are concerns that Washington is once again pressuring Ukraine to accept a ceasefire agreement that is unfavorable to them.

Caroline Levitt, White House Press Secretary. Photo by Yonhap News

Caroline Levitt, White House Press Secretary, stated at a briefing that "Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with several Ukrainian officials last week to explain this plan."

She explained, "Special Envoy Witkoff and Secretary Rubio have been quietly refining this proposal over the past month," adding, "In order to achieve sustainable peace, they have engaged equally with both Russia and Ukraine to understand what conditions each side could accept."

Previously, U.S. media outlet Axios reported that the Donald Trump administration had been secretly discussing a new ceasefire proposal with Russia. The new peace initiative reportedly consists of 28 items across four areas: the Ukrainian peace regime, security guarantees, European security, and long-term relations among the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.

According to foreign media, the ceasefire proposal is said to include provisions requiring Ukraine to cede significant territory and drastically reduce the size of its military. European media criticized the proposal, arguing that it would grant Russia unprecedented military and political control over Ukraine, making the conditions tantamount to "surrender" from Ukraine's perspective. As a result, there is an interpretation that the United States is once again pressuring Ukraine to unilaterally accept a ceasefire agreement.

Press Secretary Levitt stated, "As the proposal is still under discussion, I cannot disclose the details, but the President supports this plan," emphasizing, "It is a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe both sides can accept it."

She added that Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the same day, and that the atmosphere of the talks, which included discussions about the ceasefire, was optimistic.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.