President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believes a deal is close to being struck between Russia and Ukraine, which would lead to the end of the war.
“I think Russia is ready, a lot of people said that Russia wanted to go for the whole thing and I think we have a deal with Russia, we have to get a deal with Zelensky," Trump said in the Oval Office. "I hope that Zelensky, I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky, so far it’s been harder. But that’s okay, it’s alright. I think we have a deal with both, I hope they do it,” Trump continued..
This comes after reports that a US peace proposal, described as a “final offer,” triggered backlash from Ukraine and led to the deteriation and downgrading of high-level talks in London aimed at ending the war with Russia, reports Axios.
What was originally planned as a meeting of foreign ministers from the US, UK, France, Germany, and Ukraine has been scaled down to meetings among senior officials after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio chose to travel to Moscow instead, with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also skipping the talks. In their place, Trump-appointed envoy Keith Kellogg is leading the American delegation in London.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and President Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak are attending the talk, though the momentum toward a potential ceasefire has been disrupted by the US proposal floated last week in Paris, which reportedly asks Ukraine to accept Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
“There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory – the territory of the people of Ukraine,” Zelensky said during a press briefing in Kyiv.
According to US officials, the ceasefire framework also aims to pause hostilities along the front lines, though Ukrainian officialss are concerned it could mean territorial concessions, including in Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhia.
“As soon as talks about Crimea and our sovereign territories begin, the talks enter the format that Russia wants – prolonging the war – because it will not be possible to agree on everything quickly,” Zelensky said, adding that real negotiations could only begin once Russia halts its military aggression unconditionally.
Kremlin officials appear to be willing to play ball. with Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly offering to freeze fighting along current front lines as part of a potential deal,though skepticims remains on both sides following the end of a 30-hour Easter truce that was quickly broken.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Witkoff is expected to return to Moscow for further discussions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cautioned against rushing a resolution, saying, “The settlement issue is so complex that it would be wrong to put some tight limits to it and try to set some short timeframe for a settlement, a viable settlement – it would be a thankless task.”
