'Rewarding Russian butchery' — US lawmakers rail against Trump's Ukraine peace deal
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect additional comments from U.S. senators at the Halifax International Security Forum.
U.S. politicians have sent a sharp warning that U.S. President Donald Trump's new peace proposal rewards "Russian butchery" and undermines international security.
"Rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America’s interests," U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell said in an X post.
"And a capitulation like Biden’s abandonment of Afghanistan would be catastrophic to a legacy of peace through strength."
In the latest push to end the war in Ukraine at any cost, Trump is pressing Kyiv to accept a peace proposal built around sweeping Russian demands, such as surrendering the entire Donbas region and capping the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in return for a Western security guarantee.
Trump set Kyiv a Nov. 27 deadline to decide whether to accept the demands or lose the support of its most powerful ally.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine faces "an extremely difficult choice," which would lead to either losing its dignity or risking the loss of a key ally. Many in Ukraine, from politicians to soldiers risking their lives for their country's independence, view the proposal as "capitulation."
Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, senators said that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them in private conversations that 28-point peace plan does not amount to the actual U.S. plan.
Democratic Sen. Angus King said during a panel that Rubio told him that the plan was a "wish list of the Russians" and was "not the administration’s plan."
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds echoed the comments, adding that "it is not our peace plan," adding that it appeared "more like it was written in Russian to begin with."
"This administration was not responsible for this release in its current form... They want to utilize it as a starting point," Rounds added.
Despite the remarks, Rubio, in a post to social media, later refuted the senators' claims.
"The peace proposal was authored by the U.S," Rubio wrote. "It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine."
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said on Nov. 21 that he and his allies have launched a discharge petition "to force a vote on crushing Russian sanctions immediately upon our return." A discharge petition can bypass the committee leadership if at least 218 of the 435 representatives sign it.
"Today, we have officially notified both the Clerk of the House and House leadership," Fitzpatrick said on X, stressing that "Russian-drafted propaganda must be rejected."
Republican Rep. Don Bacon said on Nov. 21 that he would be signing the petition, adding that "Congress needs to inject itself into this appeasement by the Administration towards Russia."
Republican Senator Roger Wicker also criticized Trump's proposal on Nov. 21, saying that it has "real problems" and that he is "highly skeptical" that it would achieve peace.
"Ukraine should not be forced to give up its lands to one of the world’s most flagrant war criminals in Vladimir Putin," Wicker said, adding that "the size and disposition of Ukraine’s armed forces is a sovereign choice for its government and people."
"In particular, any suggestion that we can pursue arms control with a serial liar and killer like Putin should be treated with great skepticism."
Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen also said in an interview with CNN that the U.S. should be putting more pressure on Moscow, such as by putting secondary sanctions on companies helping Russia's war efforts, and providing Ukraine's long-awaited long-range weapons to Kyiv.
Stressing that the U.S. should not be "representing Russia" in the peace deal, Shaheen called on Washington to "bring Putin to the (negotiating) table."
"This is a Putin plan for Ukraine," Shaheen, the most senior Democrat at the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said on Nov. 21.
