Trump Says Russia is Ready for Peace but Ukraine is Not

(MENAFN) United States Leader Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that Russia is prepared to agree to a peace settlement, but convincing Ukraine to join the pact has proven more challenging than he anticipated.

"I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelenskyy, and I hope that Zelenskyy, I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelenskyy. So far, it's been harder. But that's okay," Trump remarked in the Oval Office while signing executive orders, referring to Ukrainian Leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"It's all right, but I think we have a deal with both. I hope they do it, because I'm looking to save and, you know, we spend a lot of money, but this is about a lot of humanity," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump criticized Zelenskyy for comments made during a press conference on Tuesday, in which Zelenskyy rejected any possibility of Kyiv recognizing Russia's occupation of the Crimean Peninsula.

"This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion.

Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?" Trump said in a post on social media.

When asked by a journalist whether the deal Trump claimed Russia had agreed to includes recognizing the Kremlin's control over Crimea, Trump avoided providing a direct answer, instead saying, "everything is good."

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