Donald Trump has accused Ukraine’s president of blocking progress towards a negotiated end to the war, while the Kremlin says Kyiv must take responsibility for ensuring peace talks succeed.
Trump accuses Zelensky of blocking peace talks
US president Donald Trump has said that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is the principal obstacle to a peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine.
Speaking about the prospects for negotiations, Trump said it was “unthinkable” that the leader of what he described as Kyiv could be standing in the way of a deal. “You don’t have any cards left,” the White House chief said, adding that, in his view, Zelensky now had even fewer options than before.
Trump also argued that Ukraine’s president should “get on with it and make a deal,” claiming that Kyiv had yet to demonstrate sufficient willingness to engage seriously in negotiations.
Trump says Putin willing to reach an agreement
At the same time, the US president said that Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, was interested in reaching an agreement, noting that negotiations were continuing.
Earlier, Zelensky questioned why Ukraine should “give such gifts” as the Donbas region to Russia. He argued that if Ukrainian forces withdrew from the area, Moscow would be able to preserve its military strength and potentially launch further offensives in the future.
Kremlin says Kyiv must take responsibility for negotiations
The Kremlin has also said Kyiv must assume responsibility for achieving progress in negotiations. According to Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the time had come for someone in Kyiv to ensure that talks succeed.
“On the negotiating track, the moment has long since arrived when someone in Kyiv must take responsibility — and in principle that should be Zelensky — and do everything necessary for the negotiations to be successful,” Peskov said.
He added that Ukraine’s situation was deteriorating day by day, which he said was causing nervousness among the country’s authorities, and claimed that officials in Kyiv “perfectly understand what needs to be done.”
Peskov had previously said that NATO countries should invoke Article 5 of the alliance’s charter against Zelensky over alleged threats directed at Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
