For President Trump, the solution to the war in Ukraine is extremely simple: Kyiv should recognise the realities on the ground and put aside its objections to the Kremlin’s land grabs. For many Ukrainians, though, Trump’s demands are not only unrealistic but a threat to the very existence of their country.

As he pushes hard for a peace deal before his 100th day in office, Trump has taken a sledgehammer approach to diplomacy, threatening to walk away entirely from negotiations and attacking President Zelensky’s refusal to acknowledge Russian rule in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was annexed in 2014.

“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelensky’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. He said