‘He can have peace or…’: Did Trump give an ultimatum to Zelenskyy? White House says ‘no’
The United States has dropped enough hints that it does not want to drag on with the Russia-Ukraine war and now President Donald Trump delivered the massive blow on Wednesday as he slammed Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement on Crimea.
“The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country. I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.” This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion. Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired? The area also houses, for many years before “the Obama handover,” major Russian submarine bases. It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s comments came a few hours after a meeting in London aimed at bringing about an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine had been downgraded after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he wouldn’t attend.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump has given an ultimatum to Zelensky to accept a standing peace offer “by the end of the day,” or risk the US walking away from peace talks. “Not by the end of the day today,” Leavitt told CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, contradicting some media reports.
Leavitt maintained that Trump is growing more frustrated and “he needs to see this thing come to an end.” She added that the Ukrainian president is moving in “the wrong direction” when it comes to peace talks and that Zelensky “has been trying to litigate this peace negotiation in the press, and that’s unacceptable to the president.” “His patience is running very thin,” the press secretary added
Emotions have run high today: Zelenskyy’s reply
Zelenskyy said that “emotions have run high today” after talks on the ongoing war in his country were held in London.
Representatives from Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States met for the talks.
“The sides expressed their views and respectfully received each other’s positions. It’s important that each side was not just a participant but contributed meaningfully,” Zelensky said on X, noting that “the American side shared its vision” alongside Ukraine and the other European nations.
In what seemed to be an indirect response to US President Donald Trump’s criticism of Zelensky being unwilling to recognize Russian control of Crimea, Zelensky vowed Ukraine would abide by its constitution. He also shared a screenshot of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s 2018 Crimea Declaration which rejected Russia’s occupation of the peninsula.
“Ukraine will always act in accordance with its Constitution and we are absolutely sure that our partners — in particular the USA — will act in line with its strong decisions,” he said.
