Trump blames Zelenskyy for peace deal setbacks

What happened

President Donald Trump Wednesday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for rejecting elements of a "final" U.S. peace plan presented to Kyiv and Moscow last week. Vice President J.D. Vance, traveling in India, said Trump's "very explicit" and "very fair proposal" would "freeze the territorial lines" somewhere "close to where they are today," and "it's time" for Moscow and Kyiv to "either say 'yes' or for the United States to walk away from this process."

Who said what

Trump is demanding that Zelenskyy "accede to an American-designed proposal that would essentially grant Russia all the territory it has gained" since illegally annexing Crimea in 2014 and "explicitly block Ukraine from ever joining" NATO, "while offering Kyiv only vague security assurances," The New York Times said. "Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea," Zelenskyy said Tuesday. "There is nothing to talk about. It is against our constitution."

"We are very close to a deal" but Zelenskyy's "inflammatory" pushback "will do nothing but prolong the 'killing field,'" Trump said on Truth Social Wednesday. "The situation for Ukraine is dire — he can have peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country."

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Ukraine and Western analysts maintain that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "dragging his feet" and "in no rush to conclude peace talks" because Russia "has battlefield momentum," The Associated Press said. It's "not clear" whether the Trump team's scolding of Zelenskyy was "part of a pressure campaign to force" him to make territorial concessions or "designed to create a pretext for abandoning American support for Ukraine," the Times said.

What next?

"Reality check: There's no sign a deal is actually close," Axios said. Along with Ukraine's objections, Putin has "rejected other elements of the U.S. framework." Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Moscow Friday, where he will reportedly have a fourth meeting with Putin to discuss ending the war.