Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, setting a Christmas deadline to agree to a peace proposal aimed at ending the prolonged conflict with Russia.

This development follows Zelensky’s announcement of his readiness to organize wartime elections within the next three months, a response to Trump’s accusations of him holding onto power and undermining democratic processes.

During a two-hour phone conversation, Trump’s advisers, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, conveyed the ultimatum to Zelensky after conducting discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The White House is exerting significant pressure on Kyiv to concede to what it describes as difficult compromises with the Kremlin, which may involve relinquishing certain territories in return for vague security assurances.

In an interview with Politico, Trump expressed his belief that without an agreement, Ukraine would ultimately be unable to withstand Russia’s military strength.

In the fiery interview, he accused European leaders of being ‘weak’ for failing to broker peace, and said the continent was ‘decaying’ due to illegal migration and political correctness. 

Writing on social media last night, Zelensky said he was working ‘very actively’ with European allies to draft a peace agreement to end the war.

He is hoping to win around Trump with his counter-plan, after the US president said Moscow had the ‘upper hand’ in the war and it was time for Ukraine to ‘play ball’.

Donald Trump has warned Volodymyr Zelensky that he has until Christmas to accept his peace deal to end the near four-year war with Russia

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said he is ready to hold wartime elections within the next three months after Trump accused him of clinging on to power and subverting democracy

Zelensky said he was ready to hold new elections in Ukraine within 60-90 days provided security would be assured by the US and European allies.

Ukrainian cities are pounded by Russian drones and missiles almost daily, while hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are fighting at the front. 

Moscow’s offensive – which prompted Kyiv to introduce martial law – has made holding elections in the country impossible under Ukrainian law.

‘You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore,’ Trump said, accusing Kyiv of ‘using war’ to avoid elections.

Russia has long called for Zelensky’s demise, calling him an illegitimate leader.

‘Russia has the upper hand, and they always did. They’re much bigger. They’re much stronger in that sense,’ Trump told the Politico news website.

‘I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the bravery and for the fighting and all of that.

‘But you know, at some point, size will win, generally. And this is a massive size, when you take a look at the numbers, I mean, the numbers are just crazy.’

Nearly one million Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, according to a study by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies in June.

The same study said that close to 400,000 Ukrainian troops have also been killed or wounded since the war began, putting the casualty figure, for Russian and Ukrainian troops combined, at almost 1.4 million.

When asked what would happen if Zelensky rejected the latest US deal, Trump said: ‘Well, he’s going to have to get on the ball and start accepting things. You know, when you’re losing, because he’s losing.’

The US president said reaching a deal is ‘tough’ and that ‘one of the reasons is the level of hatred between Putin and Zelensky is tremendous’. 

Ukrainian servicemen fire a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) towards Russian troops, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine December 9, 2025

A member of the White Angels police evacuation unit stands near a resident as she speaks with her relatives during an evacuation from the frontline town of Dobropillia, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine December 9, 2025

Police officers and volunteers assist a resident during an evacuation from the frontline town of Dobropillia, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine December 9, 2025

The Kremlin on Wednesday said Trump’s latest statements on Ukraine – in which he said Moscow will win the war and that Kyiv will have to cede land – align with Russia’s view.

Trump also said that long before Putin, there has always been an understanding that Ukraine would ‘not be going into NATO’.

‘In many ways, on the subject of NATO membership, on the subject of territories, on the subjects of how Ukraine is losing land, it is in tune with our understanding,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

‘We will see how the events will unfold,’ Peskov said of the Ukrainian leader’s announcement about elections. 

He called Trump’s comments ‘very important’. 

Since Zelensky’s phone call with Trump’s presidential envoys, he has visited London, Brussels and Rome to gain support from his European allies as he stands up to US pressure to sign a deal unfavourable to Ukrainian interests.

‘To be honest, the Americans are looking for a compromise today,’ he told reporters.

(L-R) Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron speak to each other as they depart from 10 Downing Street, London, Britain, December 8, 2025

Zelensky said an updated peace proposal now comprised 20 points, down from 28, after some ‘obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed’

The Trump administration previously put forward a 28-point peace plan viewed by Ukraine and Europe as heavily advantageous for Russia.

It called on Kyiv to hand the whole eastern Donbas region to Moscow, to cut the size of its army from 900,000 to 600,000, and for no foreign troops to be stationed in Ukraine as part of vague security guarantees. 

The Ukrainian leader met with Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at 10 Downing Street to discuss an updated peace proposal on Monday.

Zelensky said it now comprised 20 points, down from 28, after some ‘obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed’. 

‘The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,’ a Downing Street spokesperson said.

‘The Ukrainian and European components have already been worked out in more detail, and we are ready to present them to our partners in America,’ Zelensky wrote online on Tuesday night.

‘Together with the American side, we expect to make the possible steps as effective and as quickly as possible.’

He said that the initial US plan for ending the war has been broken down into three documents – a framework 20-point agreement, and two separate papers, one on security guarantees and another one on Ukraine’s post-war recovery.

‘There are three. Yes, that’s true. We are discussing them with the Americans and have already started discussions with the Europeans,’ Zelensky told reporters, adding that he was hoping to send the updated version of the plan to the US on Wednesday.

Zelensky also said the US and some other NATO countries don’t see Ukraine in NATO.

‘Look, we are realists, we truly want to be in NATO. In my opinion, this is fair. 

‘But we know for sure that neither the United States of America nor a few other countries, to be frank, see Ukraine in NATO at this time,’ he said.

During the Politico interview, Trump criticised European nations over Ukraine, amid growing differences over the US plan to end the war that many in Europe fear will force Kyiv to hand over territory to Russia.

‘NATO calls me daddy,’ the US president said, referring to comments by the military alliance’s leader Mark Rutte at a summit in June when leaders backed Trump’s call to raise defense spending.

But he added: ‘They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on.’

European leaders have been trying to woo Trump since his return to office in January, especially on maintaining US support for Ukraine against Russia.

Trump’s interview will intensify the alarm in European capitals sparked by the US National Security Strategy last week, with its calls for ‘cultivating resistance’ in Europe on migration and warnings of so-called ‘civilisational erasure’.