President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Ukraine on Monday after another whirlwind diplomatic mission, including humiliation from European leaders, President Trump and a passionate embrace. He vowed to use all diplomatic avenues to end the Ukrainian war with Russia, but admitted that “there is still a long way to go.”
Russia shows no sign that it will accept any other clauses besides the blockbusters of Ukraine’s surrender and permanent conquest of Ukraine, and Mr. Trump made it clearer that day that his intention was to stand with Moscow.
The Ukrainians insist that unless they receive security assurances supported by the United States, they will not put down their weapons, which will prevent the Kremlin from reorganizing and attacking again.
Mr. Zelensky received support from European democracies on Sunday after a disastrous meeting with Mr. Trump on Friday, after U.S. President and Vice President JD Vance condemned him of being unhappy, and promised to work with Ukraine to propose a peace plan that could then be proposed to the United States.
Mr Zelensky himself said the U.S. buy-in of peace plans is important and seems to be working further in his efforts compared to the White House. “We are grateful for all the support we have received from the United States,” he said in a speech to the United States on Sunday night. “There is no day we are not grateful.”
“There will be a peaceful diplomacy,” said Mr. Zelensky. “For all of us, Ukraine, the entire Europe and must be the United States.”
But Ukrainian leaders still face huge challenges in repairing his relationship with Mr. Trump and his advisers, as the U.S. president made it clear in a harsh social media post on Monday afternoon.
Trump seized on Mr. Zelensky's suggestion that the road to peace would be long and difficult, and he wrote in the Society of Truth: “America will not endure it for longer!” He added: “That's what I mean, as long as he has American support, this guy doesn't want peace.”
Trump once again took on the burden of the Ukrainian war, while he said Russian President Vladimir V. Putin still wanted peace despite Moscow's continued aggression.
A day ago, Trump administration officials attacked the Ukrainian leader in a series of coordinated interviews on Sunday on U.S. television, which is usually very personal.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz compared him to an ex-girlfriend who wanted to argue about everything you said nine years ago, rather than moving forward.”
Tulsi Gabbard, the new director of national intelligence, questioned whether Ukraine and the United States really share values and extended her criticism to European countries where Mr. Zelensky gathered around Mr. Zelensky, saying they “don’t stand with us around these basic free values.”
When the host of Fox News Sunday asked if Russia represents the same values as Americans, she said, “This is not what we are talking about here.”
The Oval Office meeting was promoted from the Kremlin, which increased to a pile on Monday.
The meeting showed that Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told reporters on Monday: “The Kiev regime and Zelensky do not want peace, they want to continue the war.” His comments said the austerity bond between Moscow and Washington was wrongly portraying Ukraine as an invader and unwilling to achieve peace. Peskov said the attempts of Washington and Moscow were “apparently not enough” to end the fight. “An important element is missing.”
He suggested that given Russia’s military achievements, Russia could now push for a more difficult bargaining than it would have taken place when the peace negotiations failed at the beginning of the war. “Since then, 2.5 years later, things have changed,” Peskov said. “Only the blind people can't see this or the deaf people don't want to hear it.”
Mr. Zelensky tried to defend himself as a barrier to peace – given that their country has been under intense attacks for three years, many Ukrainians found it difficult to understand.
Ukrainians almost universally want peace, but they only do whatever they want. Mr. Zelensky returned to Ukraine and said again: “We need peace, not endless war.”
But bitter experiences have made Ukrainians worried that a ceasefire without security guarantees will only provide a brief breath for Russian forces to reorganize and attack again. They noted that Ukraine has been fighting Russia in the eastern Donbass region since 2014, and Mr. Putin violated several peace agreements aimed at ending violence there. The Russian leader also claimed that he had no intention of conducting a wider invasion of Ukraine until his tank crossed the border three years ago.
Mr. Zelensky's insistence on pushing for security assurance is one of the things that obviously angered Mr. Trump.
As Mr. Zelensky now works with European leaders to propose a peace plan, he once again said that there are some basic principles that do not accept negotiations.
“We need to do it from our understanding of international law,” he said in a meeting with London journalists. “We don't want anything that doesn't belong to us, but when you occupy something or break the law, everything comes back to you.”
He stressed that Ukraine would never view the occupied territory as Russian: “For us, this will be a temporary profession.”
He said Russia needs to take concrete action before any transaction.
“The ceasefire must start with the return of the exchange of prisoners and children,” his office wrote in a statement. “This will be a step to showcase Russia's true intention to be a peaceful intention.”
The International Criminal Court has based on the kidnapping and deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children during the war.
The French also proposed a phased process, perhaps about a truce on both sides' strikes on energy infrastructure.
For now, the battle is going on as fiercely as ever.
Russia has not attacked since Trump spoke with Mr. Putin two weeks ago. According to Ukrainian officials, dozens of Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the past two weeks as Russia continues to launch night drone and missile strikes.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been maintaining its campaign for Russian oil and gas refineries, hoping to deepen economic pressure on Moscow.
In an attack, the drone reportedly targeted the Ufimsky refinery, which is more than 800 miles from the nearest Ukrainian controlled territory. It is impossible to immediately evaluate the impact of the attack.
Hopefully, the United States opposes Keefe's turn can do what he does for his army, Mr. Putin has stuck to his greatest goal in public comments in recent days.
These wishes are willing to control the vast land that his troops have not yet occupied, and at the speed of the spread of the Russian military, it will take many years to capture.
Anatoly Kurmanaev Contributed reports from Berlin.
