US president Donald Trump has urged Kremlin and Kyiv to meet to “finish” a deal to end the Ukraine War, declaring major points had now been agreed to in a day of peace talks that coincided with the bombing of a Russian general.
Trump said a deal was “very close” and demanded both sides “stop the bloodshed, NOW” in a late night post on his Truth Social platform on Friday following a meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff.
The meeting occurred after Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy chief in the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, was killed by an explosive device that was placed in his car and rigged with shrapel in Balashikha, a city just 13 miles east of Moscow.
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to “finish it off.” Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!” Trump posted.
Russian media ran videos of a vehicle burning in the courtyard of an apartment building, and the Kremlin blamed the explosion death on Ukraine.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The Kyiv regime once again simply shows its true nature. The Kyiv regime continues to be involved in terrorist activity on the territory of our country.”
It was the second such killing of a top general in Moscow, following the death of Russia’s chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov in December. Kyiv took responsibility for Kirillov’s death, accusing him of involvement in war crimes.
The bombing, which was reported by the Kommersant newspaper to have also killed a second person, came as property mogul-turned-Trump envoy Steve Witkoff was meeting the Russian president in Moscow to discuss Washington’s peace proposals.
Kremlin footage showed Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries before sitting down on opposite sides of a white oval table, in what was their fourth lengthy meeting since February.
Mr Witkoff – who has alarmed Kyiv’s allies by praising Putin as “super-smart” and “not a bad guy” while also parroting Kremlin propaganda – was seen strolling through central Moscow with senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev before the three-hour meeting.
Afterwards, the Kremlin said the meeting had been constructive and had helped to narrow the differences over ending Russia’s war, with the possibility of direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow also discussed.
Details of Washington’s “final offer” – and Kyiv’s counterproposals – emerged on Friday, as Mr Trump ramped up pressure on Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky to accept territorial concessions.
Accusing Mr Zelensky of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to cede Crimea to Putin, the US president insisted this week that the territory illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 has been lost for good and was not up for discussion.
In a Time interview published on Friday, Mr Trump said the peninsula would remain with Moscow – suggesting that would be the case under a US-brokered peace deal.
Mr Trump claimed that Mr Zelensky understood that “Crimea will stay with Russia”, adding: “Everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time.”
“They’ve had their submarines there for long before any period that we’re talking about – for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea,” said Mr Trump. “But this was given by Obama. This wasn’t given by Trump.”
But Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky hit back, insisting the Crimean peninsula belonged to his country, citing both the constitution and international law.
“Our position is unchanged: only the Ukrainian people have the right to decide which territories are Ukrainian,” he said.
Mr Zelensky has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine will not recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea under any agreement.
The US proposals, published by Reuters on Friday, do not call on Ukraine to recognise Crimea as Russian, but state that Washington will legally recognise Russia’s control over the peninsula.
It will also recognise the de facto Russian control over the occupied eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, and parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Kherson. Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is the largest such facility in Europe, will be returned to Ukraine – but kept under US control and administration.
European and Ukrainian officials responded to the proposals, which have been shared by Washington during meetings in Paris and Russia over the past two weeks.
The European and Ukrainian proposal states that territorial issues will be discussed and resolved after a full and unconditional ceasefire, while territorial negotiations will start from the basis of the line of control.
There is no mention in the European document of recognising Russian control over any Ukrainian territory. There are also differences over the lifting of sanctions on Russia, the shape of security guarantees for Ukraine, and the size of the Ukrainian military.
As details of the proposals emerged on Friday, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, suggested that Ukraine might have to cede land to achieve peace.
“One of the scenarios is ... to give up territory. It’s not fair. But for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporarily,” Mr Klitschko told the BBC.
But the former world champion heavyweight boxer emphasised that the Ukrainian people would “never accept occupation” by Russia.
Serhi Leshchenko, an adviser to Mr Zelensky, hit back at Mr Klitschko soon afterwards, telling the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme: “I think it’s counterproductive to make any comments on this topic, since we have no official proposal on the table regarding this.
“Any discussion of this violates the Ukrainian constitution, because Ukraine’s constitution states the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the presidential aide said, adding that it was “very important” that Ukrainian politicians abide by the constitution.
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson was among those to condemn Mr Trump’s proposals. Warning that Ukraine would “get nothing” under the US plans, Mr Johnson accused Washington of rewarding Putin for “indiscriminately butchering” more civilians in attacks on Kyiv this week.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump again slated Mr Zelensky, this time blaming him for not having signed an agreement on rare earths with the US.
The US president wrote on social media that it was at least three weeks late.
In fact, just last week Ukrainian officials announced they had signed an outline of a minerals deal with the US and said a final accord could be reached by the end of this week.
It came as the UN’s refugee agency warned it was being forced to reduce support for newly displaced people in Ukraine as frontline attacks intensify – blaming the Trump administration’s suspension of US aid along with broader cuts in funding from donors.
“Some of the programmes that we previously used to implement with the generous support of US funding are on hold,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR’s representative in Ukraine.
The suspended programmes include psychosocial support – which is needed on a huge scale – along with emergency shelter material and cash assistance, the agency said.
Since January, nearly 9,000 people fleeing heavy shelling in Ukraine have passed through the UNHCR’s transit centres in Pavlohrad and Sumy, where the agency is providing clothes, hygiene kits, and legal and psychosocial support.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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