Trump accuses Zelensky of stalling Ukraine peace deal

Donald Trump has lashed out at the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, warning that if he does not accept a peace deal he will lose his country.

- JANE DALTON

Mr Trump said a Russia-Ukraine agreement was very close – but accused his Ukrainian counterpart of prolonging the “killing field” after he refused to cede Crimea to Vladimir Putin as part of a potential peace plan.

Claiming the territory had been lost for good in 2014 and was not up for discussion, Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of making an end to the war harder to achieve.

Putting pressure on the Ukrainian president to give up land, Mr Trump branded Mr Zelensky’s words “an inflammatory statement”, writing on his social media platform Truth Social: “This statement is very harmful to the peace negotiations with Russia...

“Nobody is asking Zelensky to recognise Crimea as Russian territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it 11 years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?”

Mr Zelensky had insisted on Tuesday that Ukraine would not recognise Russia's occupation of Crimea under any agreement, saying: “There is nothing to talk about – it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people.”

Later yesterday Mr Zelensky posted a statement on X/Twitter: “Emotions have run high today. But it is good that 5 countries met to bring peace closer. Ukraine, the USA, the UK, France and Germany.