U.S. President Donald Trump stated that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, is not ready to sign the U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump criticized Zelensky after American and Ukrainian negotiators concluded three days of talks seeking to resolve differences over the White House proposal.
In a press briefing, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian leader is not allowing the negotiations to move forward.
“I’m somewhat disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t read the proposal yet. His people love it, but he doesn’t,” Trump said, also commenting on Russia’s stance.
“Russia, I believe, agrees with it, but I’m not sure about Zelensky. He’s not ready,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly expressed approval for the White House plan. Last week, he said some parts of the proposal were not functional, although the original draft significantly favored Moscow.
Trump has had a fluctuating relationship with Zelensky since the start of his second term in the White House. On several occasions, he argued that the war has drained U.S. taxpayers’ money and repeatedly urged Kyiv to cede some territory to Moscow in order to end the nearly four-year conflict.
Zelensky, for his part, recently said he had a “meaningful” phone conversation with U.S. officials involved in the talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Florida.
“Ukraine is determined to continue cooperation in good faith with the U.S. side to achieve peace,” he wrote on social media on Saturday.
