Extract from ABC News
Trump accuses Zelenskyy of obstructing peace in Ukraine
In short:
US President Donald Trump has warned he would "not put up" much longer with Volodymyr Zelenskyy's stance on the war with Russia, after the leaders' televised Oval Office clash.
The Ukrainian president has maintained that an agreement on peace in Europe is "very, very far away" but has pledged to continue discussions with the US.
What's next?
Members of the European Union are set to meet this week to discuss the proposal of a truce by air and sea between Ukraine and Russia.
United States President Donald Trump has warned he would "not put up" much longer with Volodymyr Zelenskyy's stance on the war with Russia.
In a new sign of frayed ties after their fiery White House exchange last week, Mr Trump called a comment by the Ukrainian president saying an agreement to end the war remained distant "the worst statement that could have been made" by him.
"America will not put up with it for much longer," the US president said on social media.
Mr Trump has since also said that the US could still strike a critical minerals deal between with Ukraine, which had been the focus of his Oval Office meeting with Mr Zelenskyy last Friday.
US President Donald Trump has warned the United States would "not put up" much longer with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's stance on the war with Russia, after the leaders' televised Oval Office clash. (Reuters: Brian Snyder)
The social media comment came after Mr Zelenskyy accused Russia of not being serious about peace and warned that tough security guarantees were the only way to end the three-year conflict.
Mr Trump's attacks on Mr Zelenskyy have up-ended US support for Ukraine and Washington's allies more broadly and stoked concern about the US pivoting to Russia.
After his comment on social media, Mr Trump told reporters he believed Mr Zelenskyy should be "more appreciative" of US support against Russia's invasion.
"Well, I just think he should be more appreciative, because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin," he said at the White House.
Asked if a minerals deal between Washington and Kyiv — which was supposed to be a step towards helping end the conflict was dead — Mr Trump said: "No, I don't think so."
He was also asked to confirm reports that he was considering ending military aid to Ukraine but said: "I haven't even talked about that right now.
"I mean, right now, we'll see what happens. A lot of things are happening right now as we speak.
"I mean literally as we speak. I could give you an answer and go back to my office — the beautiful Oval Office — I could go back into the Oval Office and find out that the answer is obsolete."
After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month truce "in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure" to halt the war.
The summit reaffirmed European backing for Kyiv and saw a pledge to spend more on security to defend any truce, including, potentially, with troops.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with European leaders in central London to discuss Ukraine's future security and the proposal of a truce via air and sea. (Reuters: Javad Parsa/NTB)
Mr Zelenskyy said after the meeting that discussions were still focusing on the "first steps," adding: "An agreement on ending the war is very, very far away" — a comment that angered Mr Trump.
However, the Ukrainian president said on Monday on X that he "very much hopes on US support on the path to peace".
"It is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war as soon as possible," he said.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, dismissed Mr Zelenskyy's comments, accusing him of not wanting peace — echoing US criticisms after he was shouted down in the Oval Office on Friday.
Despite his strong message to Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Trump told reporters in Washington he does not believe a critical minerals deal with Ukraine is dead. (Reuters: Leah Millis)
Diplomatic rifts as Russian missiles continue falling on Ukraine
On the ground in Ukraine, officials reported fatalities from a Russian missile strike on a military training facility on Monday local time, some 130 kilometres from the front line.
A respected military blogger said between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed and 90 more wounded in the attack near Dnipro on Saturday.
Mr Trump has previously called Mr Zelenskyy a "dictator" for not holding elections in Ukraine, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war.
Mr Zelenskyy has dismissed calls for him to resign, repeating his pledge to do so only if Ukraine was given NATO membership, which Russia — and now the United States under Mr Trump — opposes.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov blamed Mr Zelenskyy for Friday's White House blow-up with Mr Trump and Vice-President JD Vance, saying he "demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic abilities".
"He doesn't want peace," Mr Peskov told reporters.
But Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the astonishing clash was a "deliberate escalation" by Mr Trump.
US and Russian officials have held talks on ending the war, enraging Ukraine and Europe for being sidelined, and prompting fears in Kyiv and beyond that any deal could threaten the country's future.
Mr Zelenskyy triggered Mr Trump and Mr Vance's ire by questioning whether Russia could be trusted to uphold a truce.
The US president has said he trusts his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to "keep his word".
US support crucial to European truce bid
French President Emmanuel Macron told Le Figaro newspaper on Monday that a truce would not, initially at least, cover ground fighting, as the size of the meandering front line would make it hard to enforce.
He also suggested that European countries should raise their defence spending to between 3 and 3.5 per cent of GDP to respond to Washington's shifting priorities and Russia's militarisation.
Mr Macron met Mr Trump in Washington last week, as did Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with both seeking to keep the US president on-side.
Mr Starmer on Sunday insisted that the United States was "not an unreliable ally", despite Mr Trump's overtures to Mr Putin and open hostility to Mr Zelenskyy .
US support was still needed to end the fighting, he said.
Mr Zelenskyy maintained that he remained open to signing a mineral deal coveted by Mr Trump and had not closed the door to any future relations, despite his experience last week.
"I am ready to engage in any kind of constructive format in relations with the US,"he said.
AFP
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