U.S. military action in Venezuela<\/a> and the unrest in Iran<\/a> have drawn attention from Ukraine, though it was expected that the next step would be to present the plan to Moscow, with the ball firmly in Russia\u2019s court. <\/p>\n But Wednesday, Trump flipped the script yet again. <\/p>\n It was not Putin but Zelenskyy, he said, who was the barrier to a peace deal. <\/p>\n Trump told the Reuters news agency that the Kremlin was ready to make a deal, while Kyiv was more hesitant. Asked why U.S.-led negotiations had not yet resolved the war, Trump responded: \u201cZelenskyy.\u201d <\/p>\n The Ukrainian president said late Wednesday that he was being as \u201cproductive as possible\u201d in negotiations, but that he expected more \u201cenergy\u201d from the American side. <\/p>\n It was Russia who rejected the U.S. peace plan, not Zelenskyy, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. Russia’s only response was \u201cfurther missile attacks on Ukrainian cities,\u201d Tusk said Thursday, referring to a wave of attacks that have crippled Ukraine\u2019s power grid, leaving millions in the dark. <\/p>\n The Kremlin, on the other hand, agreed with Trump\u2019s assessment that Zelenskyy was at fault. “That is indeed the case,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.<\/p>\n The unpredictability of Trump\u2019s position on Ukraine, coupled with his escalating threats toward Greenland, is leaving Europe in a perpetual frantic mode to cobble a response, said Christoph Meyer, professor of European and international politics at King\u2019s College London. <\/p>\n The multiple competing crises and the scale of challenges facing European leaders are \u201cdaunting\u201d to navigate, Meyer told NBC News. <\/p>\n Europe’s foreign policy chief seems to agree.<\/p>\n The state of the world means it might be a \u201cgood moment\u201d to start drinking, Kaja Kallas privately told lawmakers, Politico reported, citing two people in the room. Kallas’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News. <\/p>\n But it’s clear that a policy of \u201ctreading lightly\u201d with Trump is not working for Europe, Meyer said. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat Europeans are now trying to do is to kind of push back, but push back in a way that doesn\u2019t overly publicly antagonize the administration, while still sending a clear enough message that there are very significant costs if they continue down that path,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n![\"Berlin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/251225-zelenskyy-witkoff-kushner-rs-a3e9c3.jpg\")
Zelenskyy has worked with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for months to adjust the peace proposal.Clemens Bilan \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
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