Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “doing everything it can” to prevent a meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the war, as US President Donald Trump admitted the conflict was proving the “most difficult” he had tried to stop.
Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Kyiv on Friday, Zelensky said Russia was putting forward “ultimatums to postpone the end of the war” despite Trump’s intensive diplomatic efforts to broker a peace deal.
The accusations came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Putin was ready to meet Ukraine’s leader only “when the agenda is ready for a summit,” adding bluntly: “This agenda is not ready at all.”
Trump’s Diplomatic Push Falters
President Trump acknowledged the challenges after a week of high-stakes diplomacy that saw him meet Putin in Alaska last Friday before hosting Zelensky and European leaders in Washington on Monday. “That’s like oil and vinegar… they don’t get along too well,” Trump said of the two leaders.
The US president had initially sought to arrange a trilateral summit between himself, Putin and Zelensky by next Friday, following what he described as “great progress” at the Alaska meeting. However, no concrete ceasefire emerged from the talks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
In a Fox News interview, Trump admitted he had been wrong to think the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be “the easiest” to solve. “I thought this would be the easiest of them all, and it was the most difficult,” he said, referencing his campaign promise to end the war in 24 hours.
Security Guarantees Central to Peace Efforts
During his Kyiv visit, NATO’s Rutte revealed the alliance was working on “robust security guarantees” with the US and Europe to ensure Putin “will never ever try to attack Ukraine again.” He confirmed Trump was aiming to “break the deadlock” in the conflict.
Zelensky emphasised he wanted Ukraine’s security guarantees to reflect NATO’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member an attack on all. “This is the beginning of a big undertaking, and it is not easy,” the Ukrainian president said.
Rutte explained the guarantees would focus on making Ukraine’s military “as strong as possible” with Western security commitments, though he cautioned it was “too early to exactly say what will be the outcome.
Lavrov Blames Ukraine for Stalemate
Russia’s Foreign Minister appeared to dash hopes of an imminent summit, telling NBC News that “there is no meeting planned” between Putin and Zelensky. He accused Ukraine of rejecting key proposals discussed during Trump’s diplomatic efforts.
It’s very clear to everybody that there are several principles which Washington believes must be accepted,” Lavrov said, citing no NATO membership for Ukraine and discussions of territorial issues. “Zelensky said no to everything,” he claimed.
The Russian diplomat said Moscow had shown flexibility on issues raised by Trump at the Alaska summit but accused Ukraine of “not showing the same flexibility” in subsequent Washington talks.
EU Warns Against Putin’s ‘Trap’
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that Putin was seeking territorial concessions from Ukraine that were a “trap that Putin wants us to walk into.
We are forgetting that Russia has not made one single concession and they are the ones who are the aggressor here,” Kallas told the BBC, highlighting the diplomatic challenges facing peace negotiators.
Violence Continues Despite Peace Talks
Underscoring the urgency of diplomatic efforts, Russia launched one of its heaviest attacks on Ukraine in weeks on Thursday, deploying 574 drones and 40 missiles in a single night.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region, halting oil deliveries along the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia for the third time in nine days.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban complained to Trump about the pipeline attacks, with the US president responding in a handwritten note that he was “very angry” about the strikes on infrastructure supplying EU member states.
Two-Tier Security Architecture
Rutte outlined plans for a two-tier security system for Ukraine, with the primary focus on strengthening the Ukrainian armed forces at the stage of a ceasefire or peace agreement. The second tier would involve direct US and NATO participation in providing military and technical assistance.
We are now working together — Ukraine, the Europeans, the United States — to make sure that these security guarantees are of such a level that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin sitting in Moscow will never try to attack Ukraine again,” Rutte said.
The NATO chief emphasised that unlike the failed Budapest Memorandum of 1994, the new guarantees would have teeth, with Trump having indicated the US would be “involved in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.”
Despite the diplomatic setbacks, all parties continue to express commitment to ending what Trump called the “horrific war,” though the path to peace remains fraught with fundamental disagreements over territory, security arrangements, and Ukraine’s future relationship with NATO.
Follow for more updates on Britannia Daily
Image Credit (Shortened):
Zelenskyy addressing the Romanian Parliament (4 Apr 2022) – by The Presidential Office of Ukraine, licensed under CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
