In a scathing criticism, President Donald Trump said that Volodymyr Zelensky had “no cards to play” after the Ukrainian president rejected his peace plan.
Last week, the United States provided Ukraine with its “final offer” for peace, which included acknowledgment of Crimea as Russian territory and no likelihood of Ukraine joining NATO. However, Zelensky rejected the suggestion on Wednesday.
Trump accuses Zelensky of impeding the peace plan, while claiming a deal with Russia is “very close.”
A US official told Axios that White House envoy Steve Witkoff would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Axios reported.
“Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” Zelensky told reporters. “There is nothing to talk about. It is against our constitution.”
Ukraine’s constitution also requires the country to aim for NATO membership. However, as Trump pointed out in his answer, the text does not specify that Ukraine recognizes Russian rule of Crimea, simply that the United States will.
In a long Truth Social post, Trump criticized Zelensky’s comments as “very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia,” claiming that Ukraine was not fighting for Crimea and that it was “lost years ago.”
“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. 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. I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever,” Trump declared.
“The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the ‘killing field,’ and nobody wants that! We are very close to a Deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE,” Trump added.
Earlier Wednesday, Vice President Vance stated that the US approach would “freeze” the combat along the present front lines, urging all sides to “either say yes or for the US to walk away.”
There is little hint that an agreement is close, especially given Ukraine has rejected Trump’s idea and top US officials skipped discussions in London on Wednesday that were supposed to discuss Trump’s proposal with the Ukrainians.
A source close to the Ukrainian government told Axios that Kyiv perceives Trump’s approach as significantly slanted toward Russia, with Moscow receiving obvious victories and Kyiv receiving just vague assurances.
Another source told Axios that Secretary of State Marco Rubio withdrew from Ukraine discussions in London on Wednesday as it became evident that Ukraine preferred to debate Trump’s earlier plan of a 30-day truce over his new settlement framework.
Putin allegedly promised to freeze the present battle lines in order to negotiate an agreement, but he has already rejected other aspects of the US framework, such as a peacekeeping mission on Ukrainian soil.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, met in London on Wednesday with top diplomats from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany to discuss the US peace proposal.
The United States did not participate in the summit. Yermak stated after the meeting that Ukraine is dedicated to Trump’s peace efforts and emphasized that “Russia continues to reject an unconditional ceasefire, delaying the process and attempting to manipulate negotiations.”
According to a statement posted to his X account, Yermak met separately in London with Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, and informed him that Ukraine will not make any concessions regarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that an unconditional ceasefire must be the first step in any peace deal.
Kellogg called the meeting “positive” and said it was “time to move forward on President Trump’s UKR-RU war directive: stop the killing, achieve peace, and put America first.”