Moscow, Kyiv trade blame over truce delay

MOSCOW — Russia and Ukraine traded new barbs over faltering peace efforts on Thursday, with Moscow accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of blocking diplomacy and Kyiv saying Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted the conflict to continue.

United States President Donald Trump has said he will walk away from trying to negotiate a settlement to end the conflict if Kyiv and Moscow do not make a deal soon.

Crimea has emerged as a major sticking point between Moscow and Kyiv, and Zelensky angered Trump by reiterating on Tuesday that he would not recognize the peninsula as part of Russia.

Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday that Crimea was lost years ago "and is not even a point of discussion".

Asked about that remark on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily news briefing that Trump's position "completely corresponds with our understanding and with what we have been saying for a long time".

Peskov said Russia was continuing to work with the US to achieve a peace settlement that ensures Moscow's interests are taken into account.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a separate briefing that it was becoming clearer by the minute that Zelensky lacked the capacity to negotiate a deal to end the conflict.

She accused him of derailing talks on Ukraine on Wednesday in London involving US, Ukrainian and European officials, and said the Ukrainian leader was clearly ready to "torpedo the emerging peace process at any cost".

Making concessions

"Yesterday, Zelensky categorically refused to make any concessions and demonstratively expressed his desire to negotiate only a ceasefire — and even then on his own terms," Zakharova said.

Ukraine has said it wants a just peace and that Russia is dragging out talks and trying to win time to grab more Ukrainian land.

Ukrainian officials stepped up their criticism after an overnight Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv that killed at least nine people.

"Yesterday's Russian maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.

"Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war."

Ukraine says it is committed to seeking a full and unconditional ceasefire. After talks with the US, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day truce last month but Putin responded with a list of conditions and questions, saying such a pause would give Ukraine the chance to mobilize more soldiers and acquire more weapons.

Zakharova said the decisions by European countries to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv were encouraging Zelensky to pursue the battles, regardless of casualties, and that their attitude showed some European countries were frightened by the prospect of a Russian victory.

Agencies via Xinhua