Trump’s and Vance’s comments have added fresh uncertainty to diplomatic efforts to end the war, ITV News Correspondent John Ray and US Correspondent Dan Rivers report
Donald Trump has said a Ukraine-Russia deal is “very close”, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “inflammatory” remarks about refusing to surrender land are making peace “difficult”.
It comes after Zelenskyy rejected the idea of Ukraine surrendering territory to Russia, following a US proposal that would allow Moscow to keep control of occupied Ukrainian land, according to a European official.
“There is nothing to talk about — it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy said in The Wall Street Journal.
Trump said his Ukrainian counterpart’s insistence he would not recognise Russian ownership of Crimea was making it “difficult to settle” the war.
Writing on Truth Social, he said: “Volodymyr Zelenskyy is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal… This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion.
“Nobody is asking Zelenskyy 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?
“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War… We are very close to a Deal, but the man with “no cards to play” should now, finally, GET IT DONE.”
Trump’s latest intervention came after the latest efforts in London to broker peace led by Foreign Secretary David Lammy were downgraded to technical talks, following the decision by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to not attend.
Zelenskyy responded to the comments made by Trump and Vance on Wednesday, saying in a post on X that “emotions have run high today”.
The Ukrainian leader spoke positively of a meeting between Ukrainian, American and European figures in London, saying they had “met to bring peace closer”.
Including a screenshot of a condemnation of the occupation of Crimea made during Trump’s first term in 2018, he added: “We are grateful to our 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.”
The US administration is urging Kyiv to accept Russia’s continued control of occupied Ukrainian regions and to accept Moscow’s ownership of the Crimean peninsula as part of a peace settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces would also be required to withdraw from some territory, as would Ukraine’s military.
The US has stepped up pressure on Kyiv to strike a deal, but Ukraine remains firm that it won’t give up Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, or parts of eastern Ukraine that were taken following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
US Vice President JD Vance also echoed Trump’s arguments, saying on Wednesday that America will “walk away” from negotiations between Ukraine and Russia unless the two warring countries agree to a deal.
“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the US to walk away from this process,” Vance said on a visit to India.
“We’ve engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on-the-ground work.”
Vance called America’s peace proposal “very fair,” and said it would “freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today,” with both sides having to give up some territory they currently hold. He offered no further details on the proposal.
Trump and Vance’s comments have added fresh uncertainty to diplomatic efforts to end the war.
The UK’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, took part in the discussions, as did French and German advisers Emmanuel Bonne and Jens Poltner, according to Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office.
Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, represented Washington in the discussions in the place of Rubio, who was unable to attend due to a scheduling issue, according to US authorities.
Writing on X after the talks, Lammy said: “We are working at pace with US, Ukraine and European allies to end the war and secure a just and lasting peace, with senior official talks in London today.”
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