US President Donald Trump has warned that Washington may pull out of Ukraine peace talks, as Kyiv refuses to compromise on its stance that Crimea remains Ukrainian territory.
Trump slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for refusing to recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
The US president said Crimea was lost years ago “and is not even a point of discussion.”
“Nobody is asking Zelenskiy 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?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump scolded the Ukrainian leader and said the US was trying to stop the killing in his country and that they were “very close to a deal” for peace.
Trump’s Vice President JD Vance said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to either agree to a US peace proposal “or for the United States to walk away from the process,” echoing a warning Trump gave last week.
Vance said the proposal called for freezing territorial lines “at some level close to where they are today” and a “long-term diplomatic settlement that hopefully will lead to long-term peace.”
“The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing,” he said.
A former Western official familiar with the US proposal said it also called for the recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Wednesday in a post on X that he stressed to the US in London that Ukraine “will stand firm on its core principles during the negotiations” that relate to sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Zelenskiy reiterated that Ukraine will not recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea, saying: “There’s nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution.”
Russian fighters seized control of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 in a move that was condemned internationally. Few countries recognise Russia’s claim to Crimea.
