Russia-Ukraine Peace Plan Held to Ransom By Zelenskyy, Not Putin: Trump Asserts

US President Donald Trump has blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and not Russia’s Vladimir Putin for delaying a peace deal in the four-year war between the two nations, an assertion that contradicts his European friends, who have targeted the Russian President for the same.

In interviews with international media houses in his Oval Office in the White House on Wednesday (January 14, 2026), Trump seemed to dismiss his European allies’ fears and concerns that Putin had or showed little interest in ending the Ukraine war.

What did Trump say about Ukraine peace plan?

Trump said Putin was ready to end the war, but Zelenskyy was more reticent to the plan. “I think he’s ready to make a deal,” Trump said of the Russian president. “I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal.”

Asked why US-led negotiations had not yet resolved Europe’s largest land conflict since World War Two, Trump responded: “Zelenskyy.”

What do Trump’s remarks on Zelenskyy indicate?

Trump’s remarks on Zelenskyy indicated renewed frustration over the Ukrainian leader demanding more from the US and Europe for putting his stamp of approval on the peace plan, drafted by the US.

Trump and Zelenskyy have had a turbulent relations since the beginning of the former’s second term in office. But their ties seemed to have improved in later months as Trump was completing his first year of the second term.

Does Trump take Putin at face value?

On many occasions, Trump seemed more willing to trust Putin and his promises than even his European allies, which has obviously frustrated Ukraine and Europe collectively, and even some American lawmakers, including Trump’s own party members.

In December, news reports said the US intelligence assessments continued to warn that Putin had not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard disputed that report at the time.

How have the US-led peace talks progressed?

After facing turbulence on and off, the US-led peace talks with both Ukraine and Russia have focused on providing security guarantees to Kyiv after the war has ended.

That is, Zelenskyy wanted Trump and his European allies to stand as a guarantee that Putin would not attack Ukraine in the future, and if that promise was broken by Russia, then NATO forces would step in to defend Kyiv.

Zelenskyy also wanted Putin to vacate the eastern parts of Ukraine that Russia had taken control of, particularly the Donbas region, under the peace plan.