Donald Trump hits out at Volodymyr Zelenskyy on prolonging ‘killing field’

Wed, 23 Apr, 2025 - 17:50

Illia Novikov, Aamer Madhani and Jill Lawless, Associated Press

President Donald Trump has lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian leader is prolonging the “killing field” after he pushed back on ceding Crimea to Russia as part a potential peace plan.

Mr Zelenskyy on Tuesday ruled out the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia as part of any agreement before high-level talks set for Wednesday in London among US, European and Ukrainian officials.

“There is nothing to talk about — it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Mr Zelenskyy said.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (Stephanie Lecocq/AP)

During similar talks last week in Paris, US officials presented a proposal that included allowing Russia to keep control of occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a deal, according to a European official.

“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,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.

“Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognise Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it 11 years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?”