KYIV: Ukraine is expected to hand its latest peace proposals to US negotiators Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.
As tension builds around US President Donald Trump’s push for a settlement and calls for an election in Ukraine, Zelensky said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered.
Washington’s goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting that followed Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022 is reducing Kyiv’s room for maneuvering. Zelensky is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Trump he is willing to make some compromises.
Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks.
The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video. Zelensky said it would include those countries’ leaders.
“We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And it’s not easy, but nevertheless we will do it,” he said late Tuesday.
Zelensky’s openness to an election was a response to comments by Trump in which he questioned Ukraine’s democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to stand before voters. Those comments echo similar remarks often made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky told reporters late Tuesday he is “ready” for an election but would need help from the US and possibly Europe to ensure its security. He suggested Ukraine could be ready to hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.
“To hold elections, two issues must be addressed: primarily, security — how to conduct them, how to do it under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military — how they would vote,” Zelensky said.
“And the second issue is the legislative framework required to ensure the legitimacy of elections,” he said.
Previously, Zelensky had pointed out that a ballot can’t legally take place while martial law — imposed due to Russia’s invasion — is in place. He has also asked how a vote could happen when civilian areas of Ukraine are being bombarded by Russia and almost 20 percent of the country is under Moscow’s occupation.
Zelensky said he has asked lawmakers from his party to draw up legislative proposals allowing for an election while Ukraine is under martial law.
Ukrainians have on the whole supported Zelensky’s arguments, and have not clamored for an election. Under the law that is in force, Zelensky’s rule is legitimate.
Putin has repeatedly complained that Zelensky can’t legitimately negotiate a peace settlement because his five-year term that began in 2019 has expired.
US seeks closer ties with Russia
A new US national security strategy released Dec. 5 made it clear that Trump wants to improve Washington’s relationship with Moscow and “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”
The document also portrays European allies as weak.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Trump’s role in the Ukraine peace effort, saying in a speech to the upper house of parliament that Moscow appreciates his “commitment to dialogue.” Trump, Lavrov said, is “the only Western leader” who shows “an understanding of the reasons that made war in Ukraine inevitable.”
Trump’s peace efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
The initial US proposal was heavily slanted toward Russia’s demands. To counter that, Zelensky has turned to his European supporters.
Zelensky met this week with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London, the heads of NATO and the European Union in Brussels, and then to Rome to meet the Italian premier and Pope Leo XIV.
Zelensky said three documents were being discussed with American and European partners — a 20-point framework document that is constantly changing, a document on security guarantees, and a document about Ukraine’s recovery.
Military aid for Ukraine declines
Europe’s support is uneven, however, and that has meant a decrease in military aid since the Trump administration this year cut off supplies to Kyiv unless they were paid for by other NATO countries.
Foreign military help for Ukraine fell sharply over the summer, and that trend continued through September and October, a German body that tracks international help for Ukraine said Wednesday.
Average annual aid, mostly provided by the US and Europe, was about 41.6 euros billion ($48.4 billion) between 2022–24. But so far this year Ukraine has received just 32.5 billion euros ($37.8 billion), the Kiel Institute said.
“If this slower pace continues in the remaining months (of the year), 2025 will become the year with the lowest level of new aid allocations” since the war began, it said.
This year, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have substantially increased their help for Ukraine, while Germany nearly tripled its average monthly allocations and France and the UK both more than doubled their contributions, the Kiel Institute said.
On the other hand, it said, Spain recorded no new military aid for Kyiv in 2025 while Italy reduced its low contributions by 15 percent compared with 2022–2024.
Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners
https://arab.news/65z5f
Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners
- Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks.
- The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video
House votes to slap back Trump’s tariffs on Canada in rare bipartisan rebuke
WASHINGTON: The House voted Wednesday to slap back President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare if largely symbolic rebuke of the White House agenda as Republicans joined Democrats over the objections of GOP leadership.
The tally, 219-211, was among the first times the House, controlled by Republicans, has confronted the president over a signature policy, and drew instant recrimination from Trump himself. The resolution seeks to end the national emergency Trump declared to impose the tariffs, though actually undoing the policy would require support from the president, which is highly unlikely. It next goes to the Senate.
Trump believes in the power of tariffs to force US trade partners to the negotiating table. But lawmakers are facing unrest back home from businesses caught in the trade wars and constituents navigating pocketbook issues and high prices.
“Today’s vote is simple, very simple: Will you vote to lower the cost of living for the American family or will you keep prices high out of loyalty to one person — Donald J. Trump?” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who authored the resolution.
Within minutes, as the gavel struck, Trump fired off a stern warning to those in the Republican Party who would dare to cross him.
“Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!” the president posted on social media.
The high-stakes moment provides a snapshot of the House’s unease with the president’s direction, especially ahead of the midterm elections as economic issues resonate among voters. The Senate has already voted to reject Trump’s tariffs on Canada and other countries in a show of displeasure. But both chambers would have to approve the tariff rollbacks, and send the resolution to Trump for the president’s signature — or veto.
Six House Republicans voted for the resolution, and one Democrat voted against it.
From Canada, Ontario, Premier Doug Ford on social media called the vote “an important victory with more work ahead.” He thanked lawmakers from both parties “who stood up in support of free trade and economic growth between our two great countries. Let’s end the tariffs and together build a more prosperous and secure future.”
Trump recently threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada over that country’s proposed China trade deal, intensifying a feud with the longtime US ally and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
GOP defections forced the vote
House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to prevent this showdown.
Johnson insisted lawmakers wait for a pending Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit about the tariffs. He engineered a complicated rules change to prevent floor action. But Johnson’s strategy collapsed late Tuesday, as Republicans peeled off during a procedural vote to ensure the Democratic measure was able to advance.
“The president’s trade policies have been of great benefit,” Johnson, R-Louisiana, had said. “And I think the sentiment is that we allow a little more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch.”
Late Tuesday evening, Johnson could be seen speaking to holdout Republican lawmakers as the GOP leadership team struggled to shore up support during a lengthy procedural vote, but the numbers lined up against him.
“We’re disappointed,” Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday morning. “The president will make sure they don’t repeal his tariffs.”
Terminating Trump’s emergency
The resolution put forward by Meeks would terminate the national emergency that Trump declared a year ago as one of his executive orders.
The administration claimed illicit drug flow from Canada constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat that allows the president to slap tariffs on imported goods outside the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, said the flow of fentanyl into the US is a dire national emergency and the policy must be left in place.
“Let’s be clear again about what this resolution is and what it’s not. It’s not a debate about tariffs. You can talk about those, but that’s not really what it is,” Mast said. “This is Democrats trying to ignore that there is a fentanyl crisis.”
Experts say fentanyl produced by cartels in Mexico is largely smuggled into the US from land crossings in California and Arizona. Fentanyl is also made in Canada and smuggled into the US, but to a much lesser extent.
Torn between Trump and tariffs
Ahead of voting, some rank-and-file Republican lawmakers expressed unease over the choices ahead as Democrats — and a few renegade Republicans — impressed on their colleagues the need to flex their power as the legislative branch rather than ceding so much power to the president to take authority over trade and tariff policy.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, said he was unpersuaded by Johnson’s call to wait until the Supreme Court makes its decision about the legality of Trump’s tariffs. He voted for passage.
“Why doesn’t the Congress stand on its own two feet and say that we’re an independent branch?” Bacon said. “We should defend our authorities. I hope the Supreme Court does, but if we don’t do it, shame on us.”
Bacon, who is retiring rather than facing reelection, also argued that tariffs are bad economic policy.
Other Republicans had to swiftly make up their minds after Johnson’s gambit — which would have paused the calendar days to prevent the measure from coming forward — was turned back.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to have to support our president,” said Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he doesn’t want to tie the president’s hands on trade and would support the tariffs on Canada “at this time.”
