(L/R) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump stand for a household picture with different European leaders within the Cross Corridor of the White Home in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Photos
Tensions are mounting as soon as once more between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the White Home chief accused Ukraine’s head of state of not even studying the U.S.’ peace proposals but.
“I am somewhat bit upset that President Zelenskyy hasn’t but learn the proposal, that was as of some hours in the past,” Trump advised reporters on Sunday night time. “His individuals like it, however he hasn’t [read it],” Trump added.
“Russia, I assume, would reasonably have the entire nation once you consider it, however Russia is, I consider, superb with it, however I am unsure that Zelenskyy is ok with it,” Trump stated.
It is unsure which model of the U.S.-backed peace plan for Ukraine Trump was referring to however the president’s feedback got here a day after talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officers resulted in Miami with out an obvious settlement over the most recent model of a draft peace plan.
There have been a number of variations of the purported peace plan as Russia and Ukraine have haggled — by way of their American intermediaries — over key particulars inside the deal, notably in terms of calls for for territorial concessions by Russia and safety ensures for Ukraine.
Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg remarked Sunday {that a} deal to finish the battle was “actually shut” and that it trusted resolving two predominant excellent points: the way forward for Ukraine’s Donbas jap area, which is broadly occupied by Russian forces, and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine has given a extra cautious appraisal of the talks’ progress with Zelenskyy saying in his nightly deal with Sunday that the Miami talks — held between his new chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and Ukraine’s army chief of normal workers, Normal Andriy Hnatov, and Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner — had been “constructive, although not straightforward.”
Zelenskyy stated he would have an in depth debrief along with his negotiating crew in individual reasonably than over the telephone, noting, considerably pointedly, that “some issues can solely be mentioned in individual.”
Talks transfer to London
Zelenskyy is travelling to London for talks on Monday as Kyiv and its European allies scramble to make sure that Ukraine’s territorial integrity and future safety (in addition to Europe’s) will not be compromised within the face of rising U.S. strain to comply with peace proposals initially seen as closely favorable to Russia.
Zelenskyy is because of meet U.Okay. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for talks “which is able to deal with the continuing peace negotiations and subsequent steps,” Downing Avenue stated Sunday. Zelenskyy may even journey to Brussels and Rome for additional talks this week.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks to French President Emmanuel Macron throughout a gathering with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and different European leaders amid negotiations to finish the Russian battle in Ukraine, on the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2025.
Alexander Drago | Reuters
Ukraine’s European allies are anxious to be seen and heard as peace proposals are mentioned with out their involvement, notably given the safety ramifications any deal may have for the broader continent.
The U.Okay. and France have been main proponents of a “Coalition of the Prepared,” a bunch of nations that might be a part of a “reassurance pressure” in a post-war Ukraine that helps to ensure its safety.
Russia vehemently opposes the concept of international troops being deployed in Ukraine nonetheless, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying they might be “reputable targets.”
European leaders might be feeling extra nervous in regards to the U.S.’ potential for accommodating Russian calls for after the discharge of Trump’s newest nationwide safety technique final Friday, which stated Europe risked “civilisational erasure” and that it was “removed from apparent” whether or not European international locations can “stay dependable allies.” The doc additionally said that Washington ought to reestablish strategic stability with Russia.
The Kremlin on Sunday praised the brand new technique, saying it largely accorded with Russia’s “imaginative and prescient.”
Whereas each the U.S. and Russia share a mutual want for a future rapprochement, far stays in terms of an instantaneous peace settlement over Ukraine.
Talks between Witkoff, Kushner and Russian officers held in Moscow final week additionally concluded and not using a breakthrough, with Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov telling reporters that the discussions had been “very helpful, constructive, and extremely informative” however that there was extra work to be executed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev and international coverage aide Yuri Ushakov attend a gathering with U.S. President Donald Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner on the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 2, 2025.
Alexander Kazakov | By way of Reuters
The Kremlin additionally commented on Trump’s criticism of Zelenskyy, with Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov telling reporters Monday:
“We do not know precisely what disagreements there are. What issues to us is that this: A radical quantity of labor was executed in Moscow throughout Putin’s assembly with Witkoff and Kushner and afterward, Witkoff and Kushner continued working with the delegation of Ukrainian negotiators led by Umerov on the idea of the outcomes achieved in Moscow,” he stated, in feedback translated by NBC Information.
“Now it is essential for us to grasp what the result of that work is. It is clear that each side now perceive that such work must be executed in silence. This type of work can’t be performed solely in public. It is counterproductive. Most significantly, it prevents outcomes from being achieved. So we count on to obtain this data. As soon as we do, issues will turn out to be clear,” he said.
