Trump accuses Zelensky of sabotaging U.S. peace plan for Ukraine

The intrigue: Trump is accusing Zelensky of blocking the peace plan while suggesting an agreement with Russia is "very close."

• White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, a U.S. official tells Axios.

What they're saying: "Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea," Zelensky told reporters. "There is nothing to talk about. It is against our constitution."

• Ukraine's constitution also commits the country to working toward NATO membership.
• However, as Trump pointed out in his response, the document does not actually state that Ukraine recognize Russian control of Crimea, only that the U.S. will.

Driving the news: Trump called Zelensky's statement "very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia," in a lengthy Truth Social post, arguing that Ukraine was not actually fighting for Crimea and that it was "lost years ago."

• "It's inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy's that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country," Trump continued.
• "I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever."
• "The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the "killing field," and nobody wants that! We are very close to a Deal, but the man with "no cards to play" should now, finally, GET IT DONE."
• Vice President Vance said earlier Wednesday that the U.S. proposal would "freeze" the conflict along the current front lines and called on both parties to "either say yes or for the U.S. to walk away."

Reality check: There's no sign a deal is actually close, particularly since Ukraine has rejected Trump's plan and top U.S. officials skipped talks in London on Wednesday in which they had been expected to discuss Trump's proposal with the Ukrainians.

Between the lines: A source close to the Ukrainian government told Axios that Kyiv sees Trump's proposal as heavily biased toward Russia, with Moscow getting clear-cut wins and Kyiv only vague promises.

• Another source told Axios that Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled out of Ukraine talks taking place in London on Wednesday when it became clear that Ukraine wanted to discuss Trump's previously proposal of a 30-day ceasefire rather than his new peace framework.

• Putin has reportedly offered to freeze the current front lines in order to reach a deal, though he has previously rejected other elements of the U.S. framework, such as a peacekeeping force on Ukrainian territory.
• European officials continue to doubt that Putin is serious about peace.

State of play: Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, met on Wednesday in London with senior diplomats from the U.K., France and Germany to discuss the U.S. peace plan.

• The U.S. didn't participate in the meeting. Yermak said after the meeting that Ukraine is committed to Trump's peace efforts and stressed "Russia continues to reject an unconditional ceasefire, dragging out the process and trying to manipulate negotiations."

The latest: Yermak met in London separately with Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg and told him Ukraine won't make any concession regarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that an unconditional ceasefire must be the first step for any peace deal, according to a statement posted to his X account.

• Kellogg described that meeting as "positive" and said it was "time to move forward on President Trump's UKR-RU war directive: stop the killing, achieve peace, and put America First."

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