Zelenskyy's red line

Ukraine leader rejects US call to accept Crimea is Russian

- Dan Sabbagh Rachel Savage Pretoria

Ukraine could not accept US recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as he visited South Africa, while both he and Donald Trump criticised a deadly missile and drone attack on Kyiv.

Though he did not mention Crimea - the contested Black Sea peninsula occupied by Russia since spring 2014 - by name, Ukraine's president diplomatically returned to the topic a day after Trump accused him of intransigence on the issue.

Zelenskyy was speaking alongside his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, on a trip that he then cut short after the assault on Kyiv that left at least 12 dead and more than 90 injured. He complained that he did not "see strong pressure on Russia now" to bring the war to an end.

When asked whether he thought the US was becoming impatient with the lack of progress towards a peace agreement, Zelenskyy said the cost of the war continuing was ultimately borne by Ukrainian civilians.

"I'm not sure whose patience is wearing thin, but I think that ultimately patience will wear thin among the Ukrainians, because it's us that has to suffer those Russian strikes," Zelenskyy said.