In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Friday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks into the camera while delivering a video address to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his country in an address Friday that it could face a pivotal choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving the American support it needs, as leaders discuss a U.S. peace proposal seen as favoring Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, cautiously welcomed the U.S. plan to end Moscow’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine, which contains many of the Kremlin’s longstanding demands while offering limited security guarantees to Ukraine. Putin said it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement,” while accusing Ukraine of opposing the plan and being unrealistic.

The plan foresees Ukraine handing over territory to Russia — something Kyiv has repeatedly ruled out — while reducing the size of its army and blocking its coveted path to NATO membership.

Zelenskyy, in his address hours earlier, did not reject the plan outright, but insisted on fair treatment while pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners in what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history.” He said he spoke for almost an hour Friday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll about the peace proposal.

“Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest,” Zelenskyy said in the recorded speech. “Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.”

Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s National Security Council, Putin called the plan “a new version” and “a modernized plan” of what was discussed with the U.S. ahead of his Alaska summit with President Donald Trump in August, and said Moscow has received it. “I believe that it, too, could form the basis for a final peace settlement,” he said.

But he said the “text has not been discussed with us in any substantive way, and I can guess why,” adding that Washington has so far been unable to gain Ukraine’s consent. “Ukraine is against it. Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still under illusions and dream of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield,” Putin said.

Trump wants an answer

Trump said Zelenskyy is going to have to come to terms with the U.S. proposal, and if he doesn’t, “they should just keep fighting, I guess.”

Asked by reporters about Zelenskyy saying his country faces a difficult choice, Trump alluded to their tense meeting in February that led to a brief rupture in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship: “You remember right in the Oval Office not so long ago? I said you don’t have the cards.”

Trump in a radio interview earlier Friday said he wants an answer from Zelenskyy on his 28-point plan by Thursday, but said an extension is possible to finalize terms.

“I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines,” Trump said in an interview on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” on Fox News Radio. “But Thursday is it — we think an appropriate time.”

While Zelenskyy has offered to negotiate with the U.S. and Russia, he signaled Ukraine has to confront the possibility of losing American support if it makes a stand.

He urged Ukrainians to “stop fighting” each other, in a possible reference to a major corruption scandal that has brought fierce criticism of the government, and said peace talks next week “will be very difficult.”

Zelenskyy spoke earlier by phone with the leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom, who assured him of their continued support, as European officials scrambled to respond to the U.S. proposals that apparently caught them unawares.

Wary of antagonizing Trump, the European and Ukrainian leaders cautiously worded their responses and pointedly commended American peace efforts.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer assured Zelenskyy of “their unchanged and full support on the way to a lasting and just peace” in Ukraine, Merz’s office said.

Skepticism in Senate

“This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Ukraine should not be forced to give up its lands to one of the world’s most flagrant war criminals in Vladimir Putin.”

Wicker added that Ukraine should be allowed to determine the size of its military and Putin should not be rewarded with assurances from the U.S.

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said there’s “general concern and alarm that this is a Russian wish list proposal.”