Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump's top team cancelled as Ukraine peace talks stall
Russia’s Vladimir Putin welcomed Mr Trump’s delegation to Moscow on Tuesday for the latest round of peace talks aimed at ending the Ukraine war
A meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top team and Donald Trump’s envoys in Brussels has been cancelled as attempts to forge peace in Ukraine stall.
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Russia’s Vladimir Putin welcomed Mr Trump’s delegation to Moscow on Tuesday for the latest round of peace talks aimed at ending the Ukraine war.
But the president’s team left without a deal, as the Kremlin declared “the two sides were neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.”
Now, a meeting between Mr Zelenskyy’s aides and the same US delegates who visited Moscow has been cancelled.
“The Brussels meeting is called off,” a Kyiv Post reporter based in Washington wrote on X.
Yuri Ushakov said of the five-hour Moscow meeting: “We did not discuss … specific American proposals, but discussed the essence of what is embedded in these American documents”.
Discussing Mr Trump's latest plans to end the three-year conflict, Ushakov said: “We could agree with some things … and [Putin] also did not hide our critical and even negative attitude towards a number of proposals.”
The Kremlin has denied claims it is to blame for peace talks stalling.
Speaking before the talks, Mr Putin warned Russia was “ready for war” with Europe if peace talks failed.
The Russian president said: "We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now."
After the meeting, a senior Kremlin aide told Russian media that the two sides were “neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to the US’ 20-point peace plan to end the war with Russia, Mr Zelenskyy announced.
While Mr Zelenskyy has admitted that "some things still need to be worked out," he said the agreement marks "one of the most challenging and yet optimistic moments at the same time" for achieving peace in Ukraine more than three years into Vladimir Putin’s illegal war.
"Now more than ever there is a chance to end this war", Mr Zelenskyy said.
He refused to share the full details of the plan but specified what he described as the "most sensitive things and most difficult questions and challenges."
Meanwhile speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting in Washington, President Trump described the war in Ukraine as a "mess" and "not an easy situation to resolve".
He told reporters on Tuesday that he was trying to get Ukraine's war with Russia "settled," which he claimed would be the ninth during his tenure.
Ahead of a cabinet meeting in Washington, Trump said: "We're trying to get [the war] settled. I've settled eight wars. This would be the ninth, and our people are over in Russia right now to see if we can get it settled.
"Not an easy situation, let me tell you. What a mess."
Reacting to Putin's comments earlier on Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the Russian president's words demonstrate that he does not plan to end the war.
"Russia must end the bloodshed it has started. If this doesn’t happen and Putin just spits into the world's face once again, there must be consequences," Sybiha said.
"Russia must stop wasting the world's time, which must be the time for peace."He added that now is time "to force the source of war in Moscow to end it."