SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials on the most recent peace proposal in the war between Russia and Ukraine are underway in Geneva, Switzerland. President Trump said today that the plan is not his final offer, but the draft is seen as hugely favoring Russia, a blow to Ukraine. This comes as President Zelenskyy's public image has been weakened by a corruption scandal. Zelenskyy is calling this one of the most difficult moments in his country's history. We go to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Ukraine for more details. Hi, Eleanor.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Hello, Sacha.
PFEIFFER: Tell us about the details of this plan and how it was drafted.
BEARDSLEY: Well, the plan was leaked this week and later confirmed by the Trump administration. It was drafted by Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff and a Russian businessman and advisor to President Vladimir Putin named Kirill Dmitriev. Ukrainians say the plan was drawn up behind their backs and looks like something the Kremlin could have drafted. Ukraine would have to give up territory in the Donbas that it controls. It's important, heavily fortified territory. It would have to limit its military and reduce its weapons arsenal and renounce ever joining NATO.
And there seems to be no punishment for Russia. Russia would be welcomed back into the international fold, sanctions lifted, and there's a joint Russian-American Arctic exploration deal in this plan, so possible big business opportunities, rare earth minerals and all that. This is a terrible deal for Ukraine, which has fought so hard, and this sort of erases a lot of that.
Zelenskyy is in a terrible situation. He cannot fight Putin and Trump. He spoke yesterday to his nation and said, this is a choice between dignity and losing a key partner.
PFEIFFER: What are Ukrainians saying about this proposal?
BEARDSLEY: Well, I went today to Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine that came under Russian missile attack this week, just as this peace plan was being drawn up, and a residential apartment building was directly hit. More than 30 people were killed, including children.
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BEARDSLEY: The site is sheer destruction and desolation. The building was sheared off and decapitated. Jagged bricks are there against this gray sky. Clothes are hanging from tree branches. Emergency workers were with bulldozers trying to recover bodies that have not yet been found. And out front was a growing mound of memorial candles, flowers and teddy bears and people coming by in a stream to watch, to pray, to cry. And I spoke with 39-year-old Kateryna Rushkov, mother of two who lives one street over. She says the air raid alarms went off at 3 a.m., and the family ran to their basement barely clothed and cowered amidst relentless explosions for the next 5 hours. Here she is.
KATERYNA RUSHKOV: I have 6-year daughter, and she was very scared. All the time, she screamed, Mom, Mom, we're dying. It's really hard, but it's more harder about these kids who died for nothing.
BEARDSLEY: For nothing, Sacha, because this deal would be a total capitulation for Ukraine, she says.
PFEIFFER: Eleanor, another factor is that allegations of a corruption scheme involving top Ukrainian ministers in Zelenskyy's government recently surfaced. How is that affecting this situation?
BEARDSLEY: Well, Zelenskyy is trying to deal with that openly, but it's making Ukraine much weaker, and people here know that. You know, he's been a moral force these four years, and that's helped bring international support. Some people think he knew nothing about it. Others don't see how he could not have known. It's starting to divide an exhausted society that has been very much united around him. There's a feeling of betrayal amongst people I talk to by Ukrainian leaders, by Europe - that it's not stepped up enough - but especially a sense of disappointment in the U.S. I spoke with Inga Shkarupa. She's a gym instructor in Ternopil. She says Russia is getting off scot-free, and she does not want Zelenskyy to sign this deal.
INGA SHKARUPA: People are dying every second, every minute. I'm sorry. We are paying the biggest price. And why they not doing anything towards Russia? I don't see anything towards Russia. It's like - feels like Russia a victim, not us.
PFEIFFER: I understand that Europeans were not consulted either. What are they saying?
BEARDSLEY: Well, there is dismay and really panic in Europe. Ukraine is seen as the front line sort of protecting them. European leaders are weighing in. They're saying there's work to be done on this plan, but they're tiptoeing around it. You know, they don't want a brutal confrontation with the Trump administration, either. Meanwhile, Trump has given Zelenskyy until Thursday to respond, and he says, if he refuses the deal...
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Then he can continue to fight his little heart out.
BEARDSLEY: Yeah, and no one knows what Zelenskyy will do.
PFEIFFER: That is NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Ukraine. Eleanor, thank you.
BEARDSLEY: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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