US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 26, 2025 on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral in Vatican City, a handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service in Kiev shows. Photo: VCG

US President Donald Trump has questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin's willingness to end the war following his meeting with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral.

Chinese experts said the US is showing waning patience on the Ukraine crisis after initial efforts to end the war, while the differences over key issues, especially territory, between Russia and Ukraine remain vast. 

Posting on Truth Social after leaving Rome, Trump took aim at Putin, claiming he "maybe doesn't want to stop the war" and "he's just tapping me along." Trump also suggested additional "banking" and "secondary sanctions" as ways to deal with the issue.  

Trump's post came after his face-to-face talks with Ukrainian President Zelensky, a first between the two leaders since a heated February encounter in the White House. 

Zelensky wrote on X that their talks were "very symbolic that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results."

According to the President of Ukraine official website on Saturday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also met and held talks with Zelensky, during which "they discussed the implementation of the ReArm Europe plan, strengthening security cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, and collaboration in defense innovation and technology."

The two sides also "discussed the preparation of the EU's 17th sanctions package against Russia."

Trump, in an earlier post on Truth Social on Saturday after he just landed in Rome, claimed it was "a good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal," while urging the two sides to now meet at "very high levels, to finish it off."  

The US leader also announced in the post that "most of the major points are agreed to."

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the current US administration lacks a clear-cut framework to end the Ukraine war, with back-and-forth statements driven by real-time developments and varied reactions from the parties involved.

Washington's olive branch to Russia, and pressure on Europe and Ukraine have so far failed to meet up with expectations in bringing a quick end to the war in Ukraine, Yang Jin, an associate research fellow with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. 

According to Russia's TASS News Agency on Saturday, the fourth meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff since the beginning of the year took place on Friday. Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov said that the conversation, which lasted three hours, was constructive and quite useful. 


'In jest'

According to CNN, on the campaign trail in 2023 and 2024, Trump said on dozens of occasions, that he would end the war in Ukraine either within 24 hours of his return to the White House or even sooner than that. 

In an interview with Time magazine to mark his second term's 100th day milestone, Trump admitted that "Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point, and you know, it gets, of course, by the fake news [unintelligible]. Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended."

The AP reported on Sunday that a peace proposal by the Trump administration that includes recognizing Russian authority over Crimea shocked Ukrainian officials, who say they will not accept any formal surrender of the peninsula, even though they expect to concede the territory to the Kremlin, at least temporarily. 

Trump underscored the Crimea proposal in an interview published Friday in Time magazine: "Crimea will stay with Russia. Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time."

His comments, according to the AP, offered the latest example of the US leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war. Trump has also accused Zelensky of prolonging the war by resisting negotiations with Russian President Putin.

Two sets of peace plans published by Reuters on Friday showed that the US is proposing Moscow retain the territory it has captured, including the Crimean peninsula, the Guardian reported Saturday. This is seemingly a non-starter for Ukraine and European countries, with Zelensky insisting the territory is the "property of the Ukrainian people," the report said. 


US Vice President JD Vance was quoted by the New York Times as saying that the US would "walk away" from the peace process if both Ukraine and Russia refused to accept the American terms. 


Lü said that the Ukraine crisis risks fading from attention, as the US shows waning patience after initial efforts. 

Also on Saturday, a Russian military chief reported to Putin the complete liberation of the Kursk Region, TASS reported. 


However, Ukrainian officials disputed the claim, the Guardian reported.

According to another TASS report on Saturday, Putin, during his meeting with Witkoff on Friday, confirmed Moscow's readiness for negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, replying to a question on the matter.

The US peace proposal has met opposition from Ukraine and Europe, showing that differences over key issues, especially territory, remain vast, Yang said. 

Yang noted that battlefield victories have strengthened Moscow's negotiating power.  

The US is steadily losing leverage in its efforts to mediate peace, while Europe and Ukraine, despite their readiness to negotiate, lack the bargaining power to shift Russia's position on the issue, according to Yang.