Trump says Ukraine could have made a deal earlier

Donald Trump has criticized Ukraine following President Volodymyr Zelensky's comments expressing surprise that his country wasn't invited to the peace talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at ending the war with Russia. Trump, calling Ukraine's reaction "disappointing," suggested that the country could have avoided the conflict and struck a deal earlier.

The war in Ukraine, which began nearly three years ago, was triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held the first high-level, in-person talks between the two nations since the invasion, agreeing to form teams to initiate negotiations aimed at ending the war.

Lavrov said his country would not accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, a proposal raised at a meeting of European members of Nato in Paris on Monday.

European Nato states, who remain committed to supporting Ukraine against Russia, have been smarting at being sidelined by Trump's unilateral peace initiative, which reversed the resolutely pro-Ukraine policy of his predecessor as president, Joe Biden.

Following what he referred to as "the infamous meeting" - to which Ukraine was not invited either - Zelensky accused the Russian delegation in Riyadh of lying, adding that Russia could not be trusted and "must be pressured for peace".

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump was asked by BBC News what his message was to Ukrainians who might feel betrayed.

"I hear that they're upset about not having a seat, well, they've had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily," he said.

"You should have never started it. You could have made a deal," he later added.

"I could have made a deal for Ukraine," he said. "That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land - and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished."

After the meeting in Riyadh, Trump said he was "much more confident".

"They were very good," he said. "Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism."

"I think I have the power to end this war," he added.

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Donald Trump has criticized Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed surprise at not being invited to peace talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at resolving the war with Russia. Trump, calling Ukraine's reaction "disappointing," implied that Ukraine could have prevented the conflict, suggesting that a deal could have been made earlier.

The war, which began nearly three years ago, was sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held high-level talks in Riyadh, the first such meeting between the two countries since the invasion. They agreed to form teams to initiate peace negotiations. Lavrov, however, stated that Russia would not accept NATO peacekeeping forces in Ukraine under any peace deal, a proposal discussed in a NATO meeting in Paris earlier.

European NATO countries, still committed to supporting Ukraine, are frustrated by Trump’s peace initiative, which contradicts the pro-Ukraine stance of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Zelensky, after the meeting in Riyadh, accused Russia’s delegation of lying and claimed that Russia must be pressured into peace. Trump, speaking to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago residence, responded to concerns from Ukrainians who felt betrayed by his comments. "They've had a seat for three years and a long time before that," he said, adding, "You should have never started it. You could have made a deal."

Trump further claimed that he could have negotiated a deal for Ukraine, which would have preserved most of its territory without bloodshed. He expressed confidence after the Riyadh talks, stating that "Russia wants to do something" and "wants to stop the savage barbarianism." Trump also reiterated his belief that he could end the war.

When asked about the prospect of Ukrainian elections, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian people should have a say in peace talks, noting that elections had not been held in a long time. He also remarked on Zelensky’s approval ratings, which remain high despite the ongoing conflict.

On the possibility of European countries sending troops to Ukraine, Trump stated that he was "all for it," but emphasized that the U.S. would not need to send troops, as the U.S. is "very far away."

After a NATO meeting in Paris, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer emphasized that any peace deal would require a U.S. security guarantee to deter Russia from further aggression. He is set to discuss the key elements of a potential peace agreement with Trump during an upcoming visit to Washington.

Also present at the talks in Riyadh were U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, and the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that Moscow would not accept peacekeeping forces from NATO countries under any peace agreement. "Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is, of course, completely unacceptable," he stated.

Lavrov also announced that both the U.S. and Russia would appoint ambassadors to each other's countries as soon as possible, aiming to restore full cooperation between the two nations. He described the talks as "very useful," saying, "We listened to each other, and we heard each other."

He reiterated Russia’s stance that any NATO expansion, particularly Ukraine's potential membership, would pose a "direct threat" to Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking after the talks, expressed confidence that Russia was "willing to begin to engage in a serious process" to end the conflict. He acknowledged that compromises would need to be made by all sides, adding, "We're not going to predetermine what those are." Rubio called the meeting "the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one," and noted that the European Union would need to be involved at some point, given their role in imposing sanctions.

Regarding Ukraine’s absence from the talks, Rubio insisted, "No one is being sidelined. Everyone involved in that conflict has to be OK with it, it has to be acceptable to them."

In Paris, a NATO meeting held in response to the emerging thaw between Russia and the U.S. under Trump did not result in a unified stance. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz deemed discussions about sending troops to Ukraine "completely premature." Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk also expressed reluctance to send troops, while Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration, voiced doubts about the idea. She stated that deploying European troops would be "the most complex and the least effective" way to achieve peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s leader appeared visibly exhausted and upset as he responded to the Riyadh meeting during a press conference in Turkey.

“We want everything to be fair, and for no one to make decisions behind our back,” Zelensky stated. “You cannot decide how to end the war in Ukraine without Ukraine being involved.”

While he may be troubled by the smiles shared between American and Russian officials in Riyadh, Zelensky is aware that he has limited power to influence any agreement made without his involvement. The Ukrainian president also knows that Ukraine’s ability to resist, let alone defeat, Russian forces without U.S. support is exceedingly unlikely.

Following the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russian president in 2014, Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and backed pro-Russian separatists in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict burst into all-out war when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Moscow's attempts to take control of the capital Kyiv were thwarted, but Russian forces have taken around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory in the east and south, and have carried out air strikes across the country.

Ukraine has retaliated with artillery and drone strikes, as well as a ground offensive against Russia's western Kursk region.

Accurate casualty counts are hard to come by but it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people, most of them soldiers, have been killed or injured, and millions of Ukrainian civilians have fled as refugees.