US President, Donald Trump has claimed that Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky “isn’t ready” to sign off on a US-authored peace proposal aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war, expressing his disappointment that Zelensky had not engaged with the plan.
Trump’s criticism followed the completion of three days of talks on Saturday between US and Ukrainian negotiators in Florida, which aimed to narrow differences on the administration’s proposal. Speaking to reporters on Sunday night before the Kennedy Center Honors, Trump suggested the Ukrainian leader was obstructing the path forward.
“I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago. His people love it, but he hasn’t,” Trump claimed on Sunday..
He added, “Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelensky’s fine with it. His people love it it. But he isn’t ready.”
It should be noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly expressed approval for the White House plan. In fact, Putin had previously stated that aspects of Trump’s proposal were unworkable, despite the original draft having been described as heavily favoring Moscow.
Trump has maintained a contentious relationship with Zelensky since entering his second White House term, consistently arguing that the conflict represents a waste of US taxpayer money. He has repeatedly pressured Ukraine to cede land to Russia to halt the nearly four-year conflict, which he claims has cost far too many lives.
Following the talks, Zelensky said Saturday he had a “substantive phone call” with American and Ukrainian officials involved in the discussions. He wrote on social media, “Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace.”
Trump’s remarks came as Russia welcomed the Trump administration’s new national security strategy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the updated strategic document, which outlines the administration’s core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.
Peskov noted, “There are statements there against confrontation and in favor of dialogue and building good relations,” expressing hope this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement.”
The White House document, released Friday, states that improving the US relationship with Russia and ending the war are core US interests necessary to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”
Separately, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday, suggested efforts to end the war were nearing completion.
He stated that a deal hinges on two main outstanding issues: “terrain, primarily the Donbas,” and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Russia currently controls most of the Donbas region (Donetsk and Luhansk), which it illegally annexed three years ago, and the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is not in service but requires reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors.
Kellogg was not present at the Florida talks and is due to leave his post in January.
The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are scheduled to meet with Zelensky in London on Monday.
Meanwhile, as the three days of talks concluded, Russian missile, drone, and shelling attacks overnight and Sunday killed at least four people in Ukraine. Attacks on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages.
Kyiv and its Western allies accuse Russia of trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid for a fourth consecutive winter, a tactic Ukrainian officials refer to as “weaponising” the cold. Additionally, three people were killed and 10 others wounded Sunday in shelling in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region
