KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� on Sunday claimed Ukrainian President 鈥渉asn鈥檛 read鈥� a U.S-authored peace proposal aimed at ending the
Trump was critical of Zelenskyy after U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administration鈥檚 proposal. But in an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian leader is holding up the talks from moving forward.
鈥淚鈥檓 a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn鈥檛 yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago. His people love it. But he hasn鈥檛 鈥� Russia鈥檚 fine with it,鈥� Trump told reporters on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. 鈥淩ussia is, I believe, fine with it, but I鈥檓 not sure that Zelenskyy鈥檚 fine with it. His people love it, but he hasn鈥檛 read it.鈥�
also hasn鈥檛 publicly expressed approval for the White House plan. In fact, Putin last week had said that aspects of were unworkable, even though the original draft heavily favored Moscow.
Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term insisting that the war was a waste of U.S. taxpayer money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to a now nearly four-year conflict he says has cost far too many lives.
said Saturday he had a 鈥渟ubstantive phone call鈥� with the American officials engaged in the talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida. He said he had been given an update over the phone by U.S. and Ukrainian officials at the talks.
鈥淯kraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace,鈥� Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
Trump鈥檚 criticism of Zelenskyy came as Russia on Sunday welcomed the Trump administration鈥檚 in comments by the Kremlin spokesman published by Russia鈥檚 Tass news agency.
said the updated strategic document, which spells out the administration鈥檚 core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow鈥檚 vision.
鈥淭here are statements there against confrontation and in favor of dialogue and building good relations,鈥� he said, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to 鈥渇urther constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement.鈥�
The released Friday by the White House said the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U.S. interest to 鈥渞eestablish strategic stability with Russia.鈥�
Speaking on Saturday at the , Trump鈥檚 outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said efforts to end the war were in 鈥渢he last 10 meters.鈥�
He said a deal depended on the two outstanding issues of 鈥渢errain, primarily the Donbas,鈥� and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia controls most of Donbas, its name for the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions, which, along with two southern regions, it three years ago. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is in an area that has been under Russian control since early in Moscow鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine and is . It needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.
Kellogg, who is due to leave his post in January, was not present at the talks in Florida.
Separately, officials said the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany would participate in a meeting with Zelenskyy in London on Monday.
As the three days of talks wrapped up, Russian missile, drone and shelling attacks overnight and Sunday killed at least four people in Ukraine.
A man was killed in a drone attack on Ukraine鈥檚 northern Chernihiv region Saturday night, local officials said, while a combined missile and drone attack on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages. Kremenchuk is home to one of Ukraine鈥檚 biggest oil refineries and is an industrial hub.
Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call 鈥渨eaponizing鈥� the cold.
Three people were killed and 10 others wounded Sunday in shelling by Russian troops in Ukraine鈥檚 Kharkiv region, according to the regional prosecutor鈥檚 office.
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This story was first published on Dec. 7, 2025. It was updated on Dec. 8, 2025 to correct that Trump said Zelenskyy hadn鈥檛 read the latest proposal, rather than that he wasn鈥檛 ready to accept it.
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AP writers Darlene Superville and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed reporting.
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