Kremlin Calls President Trump's Statement About Crimea In Line With Russia's Position

Dmitry Peskov. (Source: Kremlin)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said United States President Donald Trump's statement on Crimea was not a topic of discussion entirely in line with Russia's position.

"This is completely in line with our understanding and with what we have said so far," Peskov told a news conference.

Earlier, President Trump President Volodymyr Zelensky clashed again on Wednesday over efforts to end the three-year war in Ukraine, with US Leaders reprimanding Kyiv Leaders for refusing to recognize Russia's occupation of Crimea.

President Zelensky on Tuesday reiterated that Ukraine would never hand over Crimea to Russia, which seized control of the peninsula in 2014 in an act condemned internationally.

"There's nothing to talk about here. It's against our constitution," he said.

President Trump, who had a heated debate with President Zelensky in the White House Oval Room last March, called the statement inciting and making peace even more difficult to achieve.

In a post on social media He wrote, Crimea has been missing many years ago "and is not even a topic of conversation."

President Trump, who pledged during his election campaign to end the war in the first 24 hours after returning to the White House, rebuked President Zelensky and said in Truth Social the US was trying to stop the killings in Ukraine and they were "very close to the deal" for peace.

Earlier, Trump's Vice President, JD Vance, said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to approve the US peace proposal "or the United States will abandon this process," echoing a warning from President Trump last week.

Speaking to reporters in India, Vice President Vance said the proposal called for a freeze in the territorial limit "at a certain level that is approaching the current situation" and "long-term diplomatic settlements that are expected to lead to long-term peace."

"The only way to really stop the killings is for both sides to lay down their weapons, freezing this," he said.

A former Western official familiar with the US proposal said the proposal also called for recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea.