Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed Russia for complicating the ceasefire after Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US President Donald Trump.
According to The Guardian, Zelenskyy on Saturday, August 16, criticises the Russian president for not accepting the ceasefire to end the more than three-year conflict ahead of his meeting with Putin.
The Ukrainian president, in a post on social media late on Saturday, wrote, “We see that Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing. This complicates the situation.”
“If they lack the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater, peaceful coexistence with its neighbours for decades,” he added.
This came after Putin, in the Alaska meeting, which was described as “timely” and “very useful” by the Kremlin, reportedly presented the US president with a peace offer, demanding Ukraine withdraw from the Donetsk region of the Donbas to freeze most of the front lines.
It is worth noting that Russia currently controls almost a fifth of Ukraine, including about three-quarters of Donetsk.
Meanwhile, Trump, following his first meeting with Putin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said, “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which oftentimes does not hold up.”
Zelenskyy will not meet Trump in Washington on Monday, August 18, to discuss a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
