Ahead of a key meeting in Washington, US President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a deal aimed at ending the conflict with Russia.
Speaking a day before Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House, Trump asserted that the war could be brought to a swift conclusion if Ukraine agrees to negotiations. However, Trump cautioned that any agreement would exclude the return of Russian-occupied Crimea to Ukraine and would not allow Ukraine to join NATO.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
“Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Trump’s comments came as European leaders were set to accompany Zelenskyy on his visit to Washington, DC, on Monday amid concerns in Brussels and Kyiv that the US president could sign off on a deal that is overly favourable to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking shortly after Trump’s comments on Sunday, Zelenskyy said that previous concessions to Moscow, including in Crimea, had only emboldened Putin to wage more war.
“We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably. And peace must be lasting,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
“Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East – part of Donbas – and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack. Or when Ukraine was given so called ‘security guarantees’ in 1994, but they didn’t work.”
