Donald Trump says ‘don’t want to waste time’ as Russia-Ukraine peace talks fail to make progress | World News
US President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with business leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Donald Trump has expressed his frustration over the lack of progress in the ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Trump reportedly blamed Europe, which has so far rejected key proposals, including Ukraine surrendering land to Russia, for the peace talks stalling.
‘You have to let people fight it out’
“They would like us to go to a meeting over the weekend in Europe, and we’ll make a determination, depending on what they come back with. We don’t want to be wasting time,” Trump said on Wednesday, according to NBC News.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Sometimes you have to let people fight it out, and sometimes you don’t,” Trump said further, while speaking at a roundtable with business leaders.
‘Zelenskyy has to be realic’
Trump also said he and European leaders discussed proposals phone in “pretty strong terms,” adding that Zelenskyy “has to be realic” about Ukraine’s position on a peace plan that would cede territory to Russia.
Earlier, European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Miner Keir Starmer, had suggested to Trump that they could finalise peace proposals together with the US over the weekend.Story continues below this ad
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Britain’s Prime Miner Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron, talk on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, London. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Why European leaders want a better deal
European leaders, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have been trying to hold out as Trump has been pushing Kyiv to agree on the peace plan, which many argued favours Russia.
Trump had initially set a deadline for Kyiv to accept his peace plan before Thanksgiving, but due to European intervention, it has been delayed, with no set timeframe.
Zelenskyy meeting Coalition of the Willing
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy is set to hold urgent talks on Thursday with leaders and officials from about 30 countries, dubbed the Coalition of the Willing, via video link.
According to The Associated Press, the talks were hastily arranged as Kyiv officials scramble to avoid getting boxed in Trump, who had disparaged the Ukrainian leader, painted European leaders as weak, and set a strategy of improving Washington’s relationship with Moscow.Story continues below this ad
A man walks around an improvised memorial to fallen soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine war at Independence square in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
In the face of Trump’s demands for a swift settlement, European governments are trying to help steer the peace negotiations because they say their own security is at stake.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the main issue to be resolved is “what territories and concessions Ukraine is prepared to make.”
The work remains difficult because Russian President Vladimir Putin “is relentlessly continuing his brutal war against the Ukrainian civilian population, and at the same time he is clearly playing for time in the negotiations,” Merz said.
Ukraine responds to US draft proposal
CNN on Thursday reported that Ukraine delivered its response to the latest US-drafted peace proposal to the Trump adminration on Wednesday.Story continues below this ad
Axios, quoting a Ukrainian official, reported that the response includes comments and proposed amendments “to make the whole thing doable.”
