President Donald Trump is amping up pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as his administration signals it is losing patience trying to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump once again placed blame on the Ukranian leader for not moving to end the war that Russia started in a post on his social media site on Wednesday. Trump’s pressure comes as European allies are meeting in London on Wednesday to discuss a peace proposal to end the war — a meeting that Secretary of State Macro Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff opted to skip after being slated to attend.
“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The stepback from the administration from global peace talks with Europe coincides with top Trump officials — including Rubio — saying that the U.S. will walk away from negotiations unless both sides get to the table. Trump previously said that either side — not pointing to Russia or Ukraine — could stall negotiations and force Trump’s hand to back out.
Trump on Wednesday put his focus back on Zelenskyy, blaming him for holding up the negotiations and saying Ukraine did not fight hard enough over Russian-occupied territory in Crimea. Ukraine has been pushing back on reports of U.S.-led proposals that would force it to recognize Russia’s control of Crimea in the ceasefire deal, an idea Zelenskyy dismissed as against their constitution — telling reporters in a Tuesday press conference that “there’s nothing to talk about here.”
“Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize 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 Wednesday.
It is a return to Trump’s previous attacks on Zelenskyy. Earlier this year, Trump and Vice President JD Vance dressed down the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office, and Trump had berated him as a “dictator without elections.” Shortly after entering office, Trump repeatedly blamed Zelenskyy for the war that Russia started while adamantly pushing for a ceasefire — which largely fell apart earlier this month when Russia restarted its offensive.
“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 wrote.
Rubio and Witkoff had pulled out at the last minute from a summit of European leaders this week, citing a scheduling conflict — and signaling plans to press forward with the U.S.’ take-it-or-leave-it proposal. Other American envoys are still participating in the talks.
“Our team is looking forward to substantive and good technical meetings with Ukrainian and UK counterparts,” Rubio posted on X on Tuesday evening. “I look forward to following up after the ongoing discussions in London and rescheduling my trip to the UK in the coming months.”
Trump’s remarks follow Vice President JD Vance urging both countries to accept the ceasefire proposal on Wednesday morning.
“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,” Vance told reporters while on his trip to India. “The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.”
