The Kremlin claimed Monday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s fiery shouting match with President Trump at the White House proves that he will have to be forced into a peace deal.
“What happened at the White House on Friday, of course, demonstrated how difficult it will be to reach a settlement trajectory around Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“The Kyiv regime and Zelensky do not want peace. They want the war to continue.
“It is very important that someone forces Zelensky himself to change his position,” he added.
“Someone has to make Zelensky want peace. If the Europeans can do it, they should be honored and praised.”
Russia’s remarks come just days after Trump and Vice President JD Vance clashed with the Ukrainian leader in the Oval Office when the president accused Zelensky of disrespecting the US and saying he risked triggering World War Three.
Zelensky, for his part, said on Sunday that he believed he could salvage his relationship with Trump and was still “ready” to sign a US-Ukraine minerals deal — but Ukraine wouldn’t concede any territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.
Trump, meanwhile, urged people to stop focusing on Putin and worry more about illegal migrants coming into the US.
“We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country — So that we don’t end up like Europe!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
In the wake of the Oval Office clash, European leaders leaped to Zelensky’s defense — with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying at a summit in London that they had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to present to the US.
The Kremlin said the summit was an attempt to continue the war and not to seek peace.
“We see that… a fragmentation of the collective West has begun,” Peskov said.
“There remains a group of countries that rather constitutes the party of war, which declares its readiness to further back Ukraine in terms of supporting the war and ensuring the continuation of hostilities.”
The Kremlin added that Russia would continue its dialog with Washington on bilateral ties and would press on with what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
With Post wires
