TRANSCRIPT
U-S President Donald Trump is claiming a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is closer than ever.
The only thing standing in its way, he says, is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The pair have clashed again over efforts to end the three-year-old war in Ukraine, with the U-S leader faulting Mr Zelenskyy's refusal to recognise Russia's occupation of Crimea.
White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt [[lev-it]], says Mr Trump is losing forbearance.
"The president's frustrated his patience is running very thin. He wants to do what's right for the world. He wants to see peace. He wants to see the killing stopped. But you need both sides of the war willing to do that. And unfortunately, President Zelenskyy seems to be moving in the wrong direction."
Mr Trump's thinning patience has manifested very publicly on Truth Social, where he's accused the Ukrainian leader of prolonging the war.
That's because Mr Zelenskyy has refused to cede Crimea – a lush Black Sea peninsula – to Russia, saying such a move would be unconstitutional.
But Trump says Crimea was lost years ago, and is not even a point of discussion.
Residents in Kyiv disagree.
Library worker, Natalia Ovchynnikova, says Crimea cannot be used as a bargaining chip in talks with Russia.
IN LANGUAGE (Ukrainian) TRANSLATED: "Peace is not worth any bargaining, bargaining is simply not possible. We do not need peace at this price. Boys have been dying for more than ten years and we cannot betray them."
Pensioner Emma Shykasiuk agrees.
IN LANGUAGE (Ukrainian) TRANSLATED: "Crimea is certainly a part of Ukraine, and it is not up to any discussion. We must insist on it, look for options, we must do something. We must increase defence capabilities of Ukraine. We gave up nuclear weapons. So now, please be so kind and help us. It is not our fault, it is Russia’s fault. Crimea is part of Ukraine, full stop."
The Crimea proposal was raised by Mr Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff last week.
He's suggesting that Ukraine in particular, but also Russia, would need to make territorial concessions in order to end the war.
Vice President J-D Vance has clarified it would involve freezing the frontlines at some level close to where they are today.
A week later, Mr Witkoff has thrown London-hosted peace talks into disarray by pulling out at the eleventh hour.
So too did U-S Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He had this to say last week [[18 April]]:
"We're not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end. So we need to determine very quickly now, and I'm talking about a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks. If it is we're in. If it's not, then we have other priorities to focus on as well."
The U-K instead hosted dramatically scaled-back talks, as a broader meeting with foreign ministers from Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany could not proceed without the key American players.
James Nixey, Director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, says the move has exposed cracks in the positions between the U-S and Ukraine and its European allies over how to bring the war to an end.
"This is a very different America to the one we saw 12 months ago, one which does not particularly care about the fate of Ukraine as a result of that, if it doesn't get what it wants first time around. If it doesn't get to solve the problem as it claimed and boasted it could do, then it would seem to be a reasonable play for this administration not to get into the quagmire that it perceives as being the Russia Ukraine war."
He also says it shows the U-S could walk away from the peace talks altogether
"The US just wants any deal. It doesn't matter whether it's a good deal for Ukraine or a good deal for Russia, they want to be able to show that they are a broker and maybe a power player, that they can have an influence on events. There's a real difference there because for the Ukrainians, a bad deal is worse than no deal."
On NATO's eastern flank, Poland is one of Ukraine's strongest supporters.
Foreign Minster Radek Sikorski lashing out at Russia.
IN LANGUAGE (Polish) TRANSLATED: "Don't you have enough land? Eleven time zones and still not enough? Take care of better governing what is within your borders according to international law. Instead of fantasising about re-conquering Warsaw, worry about whether you will hold Hǎishēnwǎi (Chinese name of the city of Vladivostok)."
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is flaunting his country's military prowess.
IN LANGUAGE (Russian) TRANSLATED: "Today, our experience of conducting a special military operation, both in terms of tactics and technical development of weapons, is being studied, without any exaggeration, by all the armies of the world, leaders of the global arms industry, high-tech companies. We need to be one step ahead, as we have repeatedly succeeded recently, and I am sure - it will work in the future."
Mr Trump has put no equivalent visible pressure on Russia to end the war – only promising a lifting of U-S economic sanctions against Moscow if the fighting stops.
