Ukraine Russia warfare stay: White House hits again at Zelensky after ‘difficult’ peace talks finish in two hours | EUROtoday

The White House has pushed again after Volodymyr Zelensky described American stress techniques on Kyiv as “unfair”.

Zelensky had complained that Donald Trump stored publicly calling on Ukraine to make concessions to Russia in peace talks, with out making comparable calls for of Moscow.

Responding to Zelensky’s feedback, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt mentioned Donald Trump views the battle as “very unfair – not just for Russians and Ukrainians who have lost their lives, but also for the American people and the American taxpayer who were footing the bill for this war effort before President Trump put a stop to it”.

In March final 12 months, the Trump administration suspended billions of {dollars} in US army help to Ukraine, halting essential weapons shipments as Washington elevated stress on Kyiv to pursue negotiations with Moscow.A revised association was later launched underneath which Ukraine receives weapons from US stockpiles funded by Nato international locations.

On Monday, Trump issued a name for Ukraine to finish the warfare, claiming it was as much as the war-hit nation to achieve a conclusion.

“Ukraine better come to the table fast. That’s all I’m telling you,” Trump mentioned on Air Force One.

Volodymyr Zelensky introduced sanctions towards Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday, pledging to “significantly intensify countermeasures” over Minsk’s assist for Russia’s warfare effort.

“We will significantly intensify countermeasures against all forms of Lukashenko’s assistance in the killing of Ukrainians,” Zelensky wrote on social media.

Belarus, considered one of Moscow’s closest allies, served as a staging floor for Russia’s 2022 invasion, permitting its forces to advance in the direction of Kyiv earlier than being pushed again by Ukrainian troops.

Zelensky mentioned Belarus – which shares greater than 1,000km of border with Ukraine – had additionally facilitated Russia’s large-scale drone assaults.

Although there was no lively combating alongside the Belarusian frontier, he mentioned Minsk allowed Russia within the second half of 2025 to deploy relay stations on its territory to regulate drones utilized in strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.

In his nightly handle, Zelensky accused Lukashenko of constant to align himself with Vladimir Putin in what he described as a “dangerous geopolitical game”, together with internet hosting Russia’s hypersonic Oreshnik missile system in Belarus.

“Belarus continues to be used as a supply base for components, equipment and machinery for the Russian army,” he mentioned. “Minsk must understand this. The sanctions send a political signal.”

Ukrainian forces launched an enormous missile at Russia’s Belgorod metropolis, inflicting energy outages in massive elements of the border metropolis, native officers mentioned.

Ukraine reportedly additionally struck an oil depot in Russia’s Pskov Oblast.

“Unfortunately, there’s been another massive missile attack on energy facilities in the city of Belgorod. There are major damages,” Belgorod Oblast governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

“We can see that there’s a partial loss of electricity and heat, so we’re currently investigating,” he added.

The city where Ukraine struck is just 34kms from Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia.

Explosions and fires were reported overnight at an oil depot in the town of Velikiye Luki in northwestern Russia’s Pskov Oblast.

The US-mediated second day of peace talks in Geneva ended with no sign of a breakthrough and with both sides saying the talks were “difficult”.

The trilateral talks covered territorial arrangements, energy security, and control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky called it “tough however sensible” and said the next session is expected “quickly.”

“The negotiations weren’t straightforward,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the talks broke up and he spoke briefly by phone from Kyiv with his negotiating team.

Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces are prepared to oversee a ceasefire, provided there is sufficient political will to implement and uphold it.

“They have essentially agreed on almost everything,” he added, noting that the United States would certainly be involved in monitoring the truce. He described this as a constructive sign.

On the political front, Zelensky said the discussions addressed “all the sensitive issues”. He added that a more detailed account would be shared once the delegation returns.

Donald Trump’s spokeswoman says the US president believes it’s not fair that both Ukrainians and Russians are being killed.

Asked about Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism of Mr Trump – that he was always pressuring Ukraine, not Russia, to make concessions, Karoline Leavitt said: “I feel the president would reply to that by saying by saying he doesn’t suppose it is truthful that hundreds of Ukrainians are dropping their lives and Russians too on this lethal warfare.”

She mentioned there could be one other spherical of talks in future.

She went on: “But I feel the president views this whole state of affairs as very unfair, not only for Russians and Ukrainians who’ve misplaced their lives, but in addition for the American folks and the American taxpayer who had been footing the invoice for this warfare effort earlier than President Trump put a cease to it.

“And I’d simply remind remind everybody around the globe that the United States continues to be promoting weapons to Nato which are then being despatched to Ukraine of their defence of their freedom of their borders.”