Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Criticizing Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump on Sunday lamented that his Ukrainian counterpart hasn’t even read the proposed peace plan to end Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia since February 2022.
He also claimed that Zelenskyy “isn’t ready” to sign off on a US-authored peace proposal aimed at ending the conflict, the media reported on Monday
Trump was critical of Zelenskyy after US and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday last week, aimed at trying to narrow differences on the US administration’s proposal. But in an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian leader is holding up the talks from moving forward.
“I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago. His people love it, but he hasn’t,” Trump claimed in an exchange with reporters before taking part in the Kennedy Centre Honours. “Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it. But he isn’t ready.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly approved the White House plan. Last week, he had said that aspects of Trump’s proposal were unworkable, even though the original draft heavily favoured Moscow.
Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term in January 2025, insisting that the war was a waste of US taxpayer money. Trump also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to a now nearly four-year conflict he says has cost far too many lives.
Zelenskyy said on Saturday he had a “substantive phone call” with the American officials engaged in the talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida. He said he had been given an update over the phone by US and Ukrainian officials at the talks.
“Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace,” he wrote on social media.
Trump’s criticism of Zelenskyy came as Russia on Sunday welcomed the US administration’s new national security strategy in comments by the Kremlin spokesman published by Russia’s Tass news agency.
Dmitry Peskov said the updated strategic document, which spells out the administration’s core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.
“There are statements there against confrontation and in favour of dialogue and building good relations,” he said, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement.”
The document released on Friday last week by the White House said the US wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core US interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”
Speaking on Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said efforts to end the war were in “the last 10 metres.” He said a deal depended on the two outstanding issues of “terrain, primarily the Donbas,” and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia controls most of Donbas, its name for the Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk regions, which, along with two southern regions, it annexed three years ago. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is under Russian control since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and is not in service. It needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.
Kellogg, who is due to leave his post in January, was not present at the talks in Florida.
Separately, officials said the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany would participate in a meeting with Zelenskyy in London on Monday.