Trump Says Ukraine Showed ‘Zero Gratitude’ For US Efforts To End War

President Donald Trump has accused Ukraine’s leaders of showing “zero gratitude” for US efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

His comments on social media came as Ukraine and its European allies hold talks with US negotiators in Geneva over a widely-leaked set of proposals seen as strongly favouring Moscow.

During a break in the talks with Ukrainians, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We’ve had probably the most productive and meaningful meeting so far in this entire process.” Ukraine’s envoy said the sides were “moving to a just peace”.

President Volodymyr Zelensky later said he was “personally” grateful to Trump.

Earlier this week, Zelensky had warned that Ukraine faced the choice of “either losing dignity, or risk losing a key partner”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin – who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – has said the US plan could be “the basis” for settlement.

As Rubio met the Ukrainians on Sunday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the the Russia-Ukraine war would have never happened with “strong and proper” US and Ukrainian leadership.

Switching to capital letters, he went on to blame Ukraine’s “leadership” for not thanking the US for its peace efforts.

In his post, the US president also pointed out that Europe – where Kyiv has some of its staunchest allies – was continuing to buy oil from Russia.

Moscow relies heavily on its oil and gas exports to continue financing its war in Ukraine.

The talks in Geneva – involving senior officials from the US, Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany – began over dinner on Saturday and are expected to last all day in a variety of formats behind closed doors.

They are focusing on the 28-point draft, the leaked version of which includes a Ukrainian troop withdrawal from the part of the eastern Donetsk region that they currently control, and the de facto Russian control of Donetsk, as well as the neighbouring Luhansk region in addition to the southern Crimea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

The plan also includes freezing the borders of Ukraine’s southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions along the current battle lines. Both regions are partially occupied by Russia.

The US plan also limits Ukraine’s military to 600,000 personnel – from about 880,000 now.

The draft crucially includes a pledge for Ukraine not to seek membership of Nato. Instead, Kyiv would receive “reliable security guarantees” about which no details have been given.

The document says “it is expected” that Russia will not invade its neighbours and that Nato will not expand further.

The draft also suggests Russia will be “reintegrated into the global economy”, through the lifting of sanctions and by inviting Russia to rejoin the G7 group of the world’s most powerful countries – making it the G8 again.

Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory and its troops have been making slow advances along the vast front line, despite reported heavy losses.

Before Trump’s latest comments, President Zelensky said there was an understanding the US plan may take into account “a number of elements that are based on the Ukrainian vision and are critical to Ukraine’s national interests”.

Trump had initially given Ukraine until 27 November to accept the proposals.

But he then said this was not his “final offer” for Kyiv, after Ukraine’s allies from Europe, Canada and Japan voiced concerns.

In a joint statement, the allies said the plan had elements “essential for a just and lasting peace” – but would “require additional work”, citing concerns over border changes and caps on Ukraine’s army.

There were reports that the European team in Geneva would propose to change some key points in the original US plan regarding border changes and caps on Ukraine’s armed forces.