Zelensky hurting peace talks with Crimea stance - Trump

US President Donald Trump has said a deal on halting the Ukraine war was "very close," but slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over his refusal to formally cede Crimea to Russia.

"It's inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy's that makes it so difficult to settle this War," Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social, and adding that "We are very close to a Deal."

Yesterday Mr Zelensky said Kyiv would not recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Russia annexed in 2014.

"There's nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution," Mr Zelensky said.

It comes as US, Ukrainian and European officials held "substantive" meetings in London to try to get peace talks back on track after the cancellation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's trip raised questions over how much progress was being made.

Mr Rubio's no-show to the talks prompted a broader meeting with foreign ministers from Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany to be cancelled, underscoring the gaps in positions between Washington, and Kyiv and its European allies over how to bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

The downgrading of the talks comes at a critical time, days after Mr Trump warned that the United States could walk away if there was no progress on a deal soon.

Mr Trump raised the pressure on Sunday when he said he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would make a deal this week to end the three-year conflict.

At the heart of today's talks was an attempt to establish what Kyiv can possibly accept after Mr Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff presented proposals to a similar session in Paris last week.

Three diplomats said those proposals appeared to demand more concessions from Ukraine than Russia.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer played down any disappointment over Mr Rubio's abrupt cancellation and said the talks involved "substantive technical meetings with European, US and Ukrainian officials on how to stop the fighting".

"We remain absolutely committed to securing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and these talks today are an important part of that," the spokesperson said.

Since Mr Trump expressed his desire to broker peace in Ukraine and made a surprise call to Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, European nations have scrambled to find ways to support Kyiv against Moscow while keeping the US onside.

But Mr Witkoff's proposals, which several sources said included recognising Russia's annexation of Crimea, Washington beginning to lift sanctions on Russia and ruling out Ukraine's NATO membership, were unacceptable to Ukraine and other European nations.

'Say yes or watch us walk away'

Vice President JD Vance said during a visit to India he was "optimistic" that "the Europeans, the Russians and the Ukrainians are ultimately able to get this thing over the finish line".

But he also threw down the gauntlet.

"We've issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process."

"That means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own. There's going to have to be some territorial swaps."

The cancellation of Rubio's trip underlined the difficulty of closing the gaps between the various sides.

A source close to the discussions said the downgrading of the trip came after Ukraine drafted a paper for the Europeans yesterday, in which it said there would be no discussions on territorial issues until "a full and unconditional ceasefire".

The source said the apparent US nervousness could indicate that the Ukrainian position did not align with what Washington's representatives had agreed so far with the Russians.

Some of Mr Witkoff's proposals, which Mr Rubio said had received an encouraging reception in Paris, have been rejected by Kyiv.

Hope

UK government officials pointed to the technical talks to show efforts were ongoing to reach some kind of agreement.

British Foreign Minister David Lammy and Defence Minister John Healey held "substantial" discussions with their Ukrainian counterparts, and Mr Healey was also meeting US Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg.

Mr Rubio spoke to Mr Lammy late yesterday and said he looked forward to rescheduling his trip, officials said.

Beyond Crimea, other major sticking points remain. Sources say US proposals include Ukraine and the Europeans accepting the reality of Russia's control of the remaining 20% of Ukraine's territory. Russia is pushing for lifting of EU sanctions against it before negotiations are finished, which Europe staunchly opposes, diplomats said.

Washington proposed last week to establish a neutral zone at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russian-occupied Ukraine, according to European diplomats.

Mr Zelensky said yesterday he would be ready to partner with the United States to restart the plant.

Some of Washington's ideas are also likely to displease Moscow. Two diplomats said the US was not pushing a Russian demand to demilitarize Ukraine and was not opposed to a European force as part of future security guarantees for Ukraine.

Mr Witkoff had not been part of the London talks. But, on Washington's parallel track of diplomacy with Moscow, he will meet with Mr Putin this week in Russia, the White House said.