The Trump administration believes the moment to pressure Ukraine into a peace agreement is at hand, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy particularly weak at home and plagued by a corruption scandal that poses the most direct threat to his leadership since Russia invaded in 2022.

“The Ukrainians will have to accept [the deal] given the weakness of Zelenskyy’s current position,” said a senior White House official, who, like others, in the story, was granted anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

And President Donald Trump gave Zelenskyy until Nov. 24 to sign on or risk losing American intelligence and military support.

Trump has made no secret of his desire to end the fighting and has vacillated between options favorable to opposite sides, depending on where he thinks he has the most leverage.

“It was strongly implied to the Ukrainians that the United States expects them to agree to a peace deal,” said a U.S. official. “Any changes will be decided upon by the president himself.”

The U.S.’ 28-point peace plan — which has been discussed in various forms for several weeks — would force Ukraine to cede large swaths of its territory to Russia and limit the size of its military in exchange for an ill-defined security guarantee.

The plan was presented this week just as the unfolding corruption scandal, which has ensnared Zelenskyy’s close allies, has imperiled his cabinet. Zelenskyy has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The widespread anger at Zelenskyy over the scandal, compounded by four years of brutal war, has some Trump officials optimistic that the Ukrainian president will not be able to resist the offer, even as its terms would forever ban Ukraine from joining NATO, and cede Crimea, Donbas, Luhansk and parts of Kherson and Zaporizhia to Russia, while asking little from Moscow in return.

Ukraine would get approval to begin negotiations with the EU for member status, and would get reconstruction payments to the tune of $100 billion from Russia, $100 billion from European countries and a separate U.S.-Russia joint reconstruction venture.

But with Russia gaining some ground on the battlefield — but taking staggering daily losses in doing so — and polls showing growing discontent with Zelenskyy, Trump is pressing his advantage.

“Americans are talking to Ukraine with a language of pressure,” said a senior European official. “As the only option is to sign.”

Zelenskyy alluded to the dynamic Friday in a national address, saying the country faces a very difficult choice: either a loss of dignity, or a risk of losing a key partner.”

“Either the difficult 28 points, or an extremely harsh winter — the hardest one yet — with further risks,” he said. “A life without freedom, dignity, and justice, and being asked to trust the one who has already attacked us twice.”

While the White House sees opportunity, many European officials and other Ukraine allies think Zelenskyy’s zapped political capital will make it much tougher, if not impossible, to sell the U.S. proposal to the Ukrainian public.

The draft of the plan has a U.S. “security guarantee” for Ukraine, but does not address how the U.S. would help if Russia broke the ceasefire.

Trump officials, while noting that corruption investigation swirling around Kyiv, say this is the best, most realistic peace proposal Ukraine can expect

“This is a good plan, with or without Zelensky’s corruption scandal,” said a second White House official.

Zelenskyy on Friday posted to X that he spoke with Vice President JD Vance and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll about the proposal, “working to make the path forward dignified and truly effective for achieving a lasting peace.”

Driscoll, who has become the administration’s point-man on the peace efforts, plans to spend the weekend meeting with NATO and European allies to brief them on the talks, according to a U.S. official. Ukraine, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are working on a counterproposal to the Trump plan, which has several provisions, such as capping Ukraine’s military enlistment that have “previously been unacceptable” to Europeans, and “remains so,” according to a second European diplomat.

Felicia Schwartz contributed to this report.