Trump says Ukraine’s ‘leadership’ has expressed ‘zero gratitude’
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president Donald Trump said the Ukrainian “leadership” has “expressed zero gratitude” for US efforts to bring an end to Russia’s war.
He wrote:
I inherited a war that should never have happened, a war that is a loser for everyone, especially the millions of people that have so needlessly died.
Ukraine “leadership” has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts, and Europe continues to buy oil from Russia.
The USA continues to sell massive $amounts of weapons to Nato, for distribution to Ukraine (crooked Joe gave everything, free, free, free, including “big” money!). God bless all the lives that have been lost in the human catastrophe!
Key events
US plan may now take into account Ukraine’s interests, Zelenskyy says
In a new post on X, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there is now an understanding that the US plan to end the war could take into account Ukraine’s national interests, after the proposals were criticised as being too favourable to Moscow.
The Ukrainian president wrote:
There is an understanding that the American proposals may include a number of elements based on Ukrainian perspectives and critical for Ukrainian national interests.
Further work is ongoing to make all elements truly effective in achieving the main goal anticipated by our people: to finally put an end to the bloodshed and war.
Germany ‘sceptical’ a deal to end war in Ukraine can be reached by Thursday
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said he is “sceptical” a deal on Ukraine can be reached by Donald Trump’s Thursday deadline.
“I remain, I don’t want to say pessimistic, but I am not yet convinced that the solutions desired by President Trump will be achieved in the course of the next few days,” Merz said at the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
“President Trump’s plan is to reach a conclusion on Thursday, but we are still a long way from that… I am sceptical as to whether such an outcome is possible given the current differences,” he added.
Merz said it was important to establish “what security guarantees can be given to really secure a possible agreement with Russia”.
He also rejected the provision in the 28-point plan that says Russia would rejoin the G8.
As a reminder, under the proposed deal, which European allies are seeking some changes over, Russia would be “reintegrated into the global economy” after nearly four years of tough sanctions and be allowed back into the G8.
Trump rowed back on his Thursday deadline over the weekend, saying the draft plan is not his “final offer” for Kyiv after concerns over border changes and limits on Ukraine’s armed forces were raised by the country’s allies.
Trump’s former ‘drone guy’ Dan Driscoll is the unlikely point man for the Ukraine peace deal, writes Robert Tait in Washington.
Read here:
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday and told him that Ukraine was focused on working “as constructively as possible” on the steps proposed by the United States to end war with Russia.
“We are working to ensure that the path toward ending the war is real and that the principled elements are put into action,” Zelenskiy said on X, explaining the Ukrainian position on talks in Geneva.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that he is not convinced that a solution agreeable to Ukraine based on the United States’ 28-point plan will be found by the deadline set by President Donald Trump.
“Today is Sunday. President Trump’s plan is to reach an agreement on Thursday. We are still very far from that. That doesn’t mean it’s completely impossible to reach… But I’m sceptical whether such an outcome is possible given the current differences,” said Merz on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
While Trump has given Ukraine until Thursday to agree to the 28-point plan, he has said that it doesn’t represent a “final offer”, and deadlines could be extended if things were “going well”.
Ukraine’s borders cannot be changed by force, European Commission president says
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said in a fresh statement that Ukraine’s borders cannot be changed by force and that there should be no cap on the country’s armed forces that would leave it “vulnerable to future attack”.
“Any credible and sustainable peace plan should first and foremost stop the killing and end the war, while not sowing the seeds for a future conflict,” she said in a statement.
“Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. They have chosen a European destiny.”
The plan should also involve the country’s reconstruction, integration into the EU’s single market and eventually full membership in the bloc, von der Leyen said, adding that the “centrality” of the EU’s role must be “fully reflected” in any plan for Ukraine, amid fears that Europe has been largely sidelined from the process so far.
Erdoğan says he will speak to Putin on the phone on Monday
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he would have a phone call with Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss efforts to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, the Turkish leader, who has positioned himself as a mediator in the war, added that he would also ask the Russian president to restart a deal for the safe passage of grains via the Black Sea, according to Reuters.
“So many people have died; I will discuss with (Putin) what steps we can take to stop these deaths. After these discussions, I believe I will have the opportunity to discuss the outcome with our European partners, Mr. Trump, and other friends,” he said.
The Black Sea grain initiative was negotiated in July 2022 between Turkey, the UN and Russia as a way of ensuring that Ukraine could ensure that its grain could leave its southern ports via the Bosphorus.
The deal was designed to alleviate a food crisis sparked by a Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports that had frozen millions of tonnes of grain exports around the world.
Moscow pulled out of the deal in 2023 over what it said was the west’s failure to keep its side of the bargain covering Russian food and fertiliser exports.
In an updated death toll, Ukrainian officials said 34 people (not 33) were killed in last week’s Russian attack on the western city of Ternopil, the deadliest Russian missile strike on civilians so far this year (see post at 10.12 for more details).
Zelenskyy hopes for a ‘positive result’ from Geneva talks to help ‘stop the bloodshed’
We can bring you a fresh statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a post to Telegram, he said, in reference to the Geneva talks, that it was good that “diplomacy has been activated” and said he hopes for “constructive” dialogue.
The Ukrainian leader added:
The Ukrainian and American teams, the teams of our European partners, are in close contact, and I really hope that there will be a result.
We need to stop the bloodshed and ensure that the war is not ignited again. I look forward to the results of today’s talks, and I hope that all participants will be constructive. We need a positive result for all of us.
