The US president has pointed out that Russia has \u201cthe upper hand\u201d and suggested that Ukraine has no chance of a military victory<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has called on Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky to start accepting peace proposals, noting that Russia has a much stronger negotiating position and will likely overwhelm Kiev\u2019s forces in the long run.
\nIn an interview with Politico on Monday, Trump pointed out that Russia is \u201ca much bigger country\u201d and currently has the \u201cupper hand\u201d in the conflict.
\n\u201cAt some point, size will win. And this is a massive size,\u201d Trump said, insisting that Zelensky should start reading the latest draft of the US peace proposal.
\nTrump said that to his knowledge, the Ukrainian leader still hasn\u2019t examined the latest US peace plan even though Zelensky\u2019s top officials \u201cloved the proposal.\u201d\u00a0\u201cA lot of people are dying. So it would be really good if he\u2019d read it,\u201d Trump said, suggesting that the Ukrainian leader was responsible for stalling the settlement process.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s gonna have to get on the ball and start accepting things,\u201d Trump stated, adding that Zelensky is currently \u201closing.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Ukraine claims it can eavesdrop on Kremlin officials<\/p>\n
Trump also suggested it is an \u201cimportant time\u201d for Ukraine to hold an election, noting that it\u2019s been too long since a vote has been held and that the Ukrainian people deserve a choice. \u201cThey haven\u2019t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it\u2019s not a democracy anymore,\u201d he said.
\nTrump\u2019s initial 28-point peace plan was leaked to the media last month. It involved requirements for Kiev to withdraw its forces from Russia\u2019s Donbass region, pledge not to join NATO, and limit the size of its armed forces. Kiev vehemently rejected the proposal.
\nSince then, the US plan has undergone several changes with input from Russia and Ukraine. However, on Monday, Trump said he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d that Zelensky apparently still hadn\u2019t read the most recent draft.
\nZelensky has repeatedly ruled out abandoning former Ukrainian territories and has insisted that Kiev \u201cdeserves a dignified peace.\u201d
\nRussia has welcomed Trump\u2019s peace plan and has reaffirmed its willingness to negotiate. At the same time, Moscow has insisted on its demands that Kiev recognize Russia\u2019s new borders and commit to neutrality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US president has pointed out that Russia has \u201cthe upper hand\u201d and suggested that Ukraine has no chance of a military victory US President Donald Trump has called on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t