Russia, Ukraine Must Make Concessions for Peace Deal: White House

Melinda Harding, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, discusses potential sticking points on the path to peace for Ukraine and Russia as major talks were put on pause in London today.

President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accept a peace deal that critics fear will favor Moscow, accusing the Ukrainian president of prolonging the war that’s now in its fourth year.

Trump’s latest broadside against Zelenskiy, made on Truth Social, comes even as Ukraine and its European allies have sought to slow Trump’s rush to a deal over fears it will sacrifice Ukrainian and European security. They insist that a ceasefire and clarity over security guarantees for Ukraine must precede any deal that involves negotiations over territory, according to people familiar with the matter.

In his post, Trump tore into the Ukrainian leader for saying earlier this week that his country wouldn’t recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea and doing so would go against the constitution. Trump said a proposed deal wouldn’t ask Ukraine to do so.

“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War,” Trump wrote. “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.”

The remark was only the latest sign of Trump’s ire toward Zelenskiy, with whom he clashed in the Oval Office in February and has repeatedly pressured to accept a deal. That’s put the Ukrainian leader in the awkward position of seeking to keep the US on its side while also looking to sand down some of Trump’s demands.

Trump warned last week that he would walk away from efforts to end the war if a deal can’t be reached soon. At a meeting in Paris last week, US officials presented Europe and Ukraine with a new proposal to end the war that would effectively freeze the conflict largely along existing battle lines, Bloomberg previously reported. The US is also willing to recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea, which is internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory, and to ease sanctions on Moscow as part of any potential deal.

Trump’s comments add to pressure on Ukraine from the administration. Earlier Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance said in India that any potential deal will have to include “some territorial swaps” and the border may not wind up reflecting the front lines as they stand now. He said the US has issued a “very explicit proposal” to Russia and Ukraine and warned it could walk away from the deal if they don’t agree.

That’s generated some pushback from European and Ukrainian officials. Ahead of a meeting in London Wednesday, allies sought further detail from Washington on the sequencing of its proposal to stop the fighting in Ukraine and to bring an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion, currently into its fourth year.

While they are keen to work in support of the US plan, Ukraine and European states want assurances that Russia is willing to agree to a ceasefire to provide space to negotiate a final peace agreement, according to the people familiar with the matter.

They also want to be sure Moscow is willing to accept an agreement that would include security guarantees from Ukraine’s Western partners, which would allow Kyiv to retain an adequately manned and equipped army, they added speaking on condition of anonymity.

It’s the latest attempt to influence the talks that had left Europe under pressure as Washington pushes for a deal with Vladimir Putin and tries to exert tough conditions on Kyiv.

Europeans have grown alarmed that in the rush to halt the fighting the odds may increasingly be stacked against Kyiv. While Ukraine has said it is ready to agree to an unconditional ceasefire, Russia’s preference is for negotiations to focus on the final terms and conditions of an agreement. Moscow has also driven a hard bargain in any truce talks and had been accused by Kyiv of breaking a partial, 30-day ceasefire that recently lapsed.

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