U.S. president Donald Trump is “extremely frustrated” with Russia and Ukraine, his spokeswoman said on Thursday, as Kyiv said Washington was still pushing it to make major territorial concessions as part of its plan to end the nearly four-year war.
“The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war,” Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “He doesn’t want any more talk. He wants action. He wants this war to come to an end.”
Earlier, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky made remarks that appeared to show little had changed in Washington’s core position on how the conflict should end since it sent a 28-point plan to Kyiv and Moscow last month that heavily favoured Russia.
Zelensky said that Washington was still pushing for it to cede land to Russia as part of an agreement to end the war that started with Moscow in 2022.
Under the latest U.S. plan, Moscow would also stay where it is in the south of the country, but pull some of its troops out of Ukrainian regions that Russian president Vladimir Putin has not claimed to have annexed in the north.
Ukraine has been revising the original U.S. proposal and this week sent a 20-point counter-proposal to Washington, the full details of which have not been published. Zelensky has long said he has no “constitutional” or “moral” right to cede Ukrainian land and said on Thursday, December 11th, that Ukrainians should have the final word.
“Whether through elections or a referendum, there must be a position from the people of Ukraine,” he said.
