Trump slates Ukraine for not ceding land to Putin as he warns Zelensky to just accept peace deal | EUROtoday

Donald Trump has lashed out on the Ukrainian chief Volodymyr Zelensky, warning that if he doesn’t settle for a peace deal he’ll lose his nation.

Mr Trump stated a Russia-Ukraine settlement was very shut – however accused his Ukrainian counterpart of prolonging the “killing field” after he refused to cede Crimea to Vladimir Putin as a part of a possible peace plan.

Claiming the territory had been misplaced for good in 2014 and was not up for dialogue, Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of creating an finish to the struggle more durable to attain.

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Putting stress on the Ukrainian president to surrender land, Mr Trump branded Mr Zelensky’s phrases “an inflammatory statement”, writing on his social media platform Truth Social: “This statement is very harmful to the peace negotiations with Russia…

“Nobody is asking Zelensky to recognise Crimea as Russian territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?”

Mr Zelensky had insisted on Tuesday that Ukraine wouldn’t recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea beneath any settlement, saying: “There is nothing to talk about – it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people.”

Later on Wednesday Mr Zelensky posted an announcement on X: “Emotions have run high today. But it is good that 5 countries met to bring peace closer. Ukraine, the USA, the UK, France and Germany.

“We are grateful to partners. Ukraine will always act in accordance with its Constitution and we are absolutely sure that our partners in particular the USA will act in line with its strong decisions.”

Mr Trump added: “He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire – he can have peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country.”

In talks final week in Paris, US officers offered a proposed deal that allowed Russia to maintain management of occupied Ukrainian territory, in line with a European official.

Hours earlier than Mr Trump’s outburst, his vice-president JD Vance additionally upped the stress on Mr Zelensky, threatening that the US would abandon peace talks until either side agreed to Washington’s proposals.

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Mr Vance stated: “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say ‘yes’ or for the United States to walk away from this process.”

He stated it was “a very fair proposal” that may “freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today”, with either side having to surrender some territory they at the moment maintain.

He issued his warning after a high-level summit in London to debate the phrases of a deal was abruptly downgraded when Mr Trump’s prime diplomat, US secretary of state Marco Rubio, pulled out of the assembly.

Foreign secretary David Lammy introduced the talks would contain solely lower-ranking officers after Mr Rubio was unable to attend due to a scheduling challenge.

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Mr Rubio had indicated that Wednesday’s assembly might be decisive in figuring out whether or not the Trump administration remained concerned, and his cancellation raised doubts in regards to the path of the negotiations.

But Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov stated after the assembly that his aspect had productive talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg.

“We talked about our consistent position regarding a ceasefire, also about security guarantees. For my part, I believe the meeting was very productive and successful,” Mr Umerov stated.

Mr Zelensky stated on Wednesday that Ukraine was prepared for any format of negotiations that may carry a ceasefire and open the door to full peace negotiations.

Commenting on these attending the London talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that they’d to this point “failed to bring their positions closer on some issues”. He stated the Kremlin was nonetheless in consultations with American officers.

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US particular envoy Steve Witkoff is predicted to go to Moscow once more later this week, in line with Russian officers.

Even reaching a restricted, 30-day ceasefire has been past the attain of negotiators, as either side have continued to assault one another alongside the 998km (620 miles) entrance line and launch long-range strikes.

Eight girls and a person have been killed on Wednesday when a Russian drone struck a bus in Marganets, in jap Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk area, governor Serhii Lysak stated. More than 40 folks have been injured, he stated.