Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky may have to give land to Putin for peace, says Kyiv mayor Klitschko

World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

On Wednesday, America’s ‘big man’ once again lashed out at the diminutive Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Warning that Zelensky would “lose his country” if he refused to accept a peace deal, Trump accused him of prolonging the “killing field” after Zelensky declined to cede Crimea to Vladimir Putin as part of a potential settlement.

Claiming the territory had been lost for good in 2014 and was not up for discussion, Trump reserved his harshest criticism not for the aggressor who invaded a neighbouring sovereign state, but for the leader defending it. And if it all feels personal, that’s because it is.

The narcissism of America’s 47th president has long been one of Vladimir Putin’s greatest assets. As a former head of the Federal Security Service – successor to the KGB and expert in personality profiling and manipulation – Putin understands that the fragile ego behind the resolute desk is a potent weapon for the Kremlin.

The mayor of Kyiv this morning said Ukraine may have to give up land as part of a peace deal with Russia as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to accept territorial concessions.

“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, temporary,” Vitali Klitschko told the BBC.

However, he stressed that the Ukrainian people would “never accept occupation” by Russia.

His statement comes just hours after Mr Trump said a Russia-Ukraine agreement was very close – but accused his Ukrainian counterpart of prolonging the “killing field” after he refused to cede Crimea to Vladimir Putin as part of a potential peace plan.

Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of making an end to the war harder to achieve, arguing that the territory had been lost for good in 2014 and was not up for discussion.

“Nobody is asking Zelensky to recognise Crimea as Russian territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired,” Mr Trump asked.

Mr Zelensky had insisted on Tuesday that Ukraine would not recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea under any agreement, saying: “There is nothing to talk about – it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people.”

Later on Wednesday, Mr Zelensky posted a statement on X: “Emotions have run high today. But it is good that 5 countries met to bring peace closer. Ukraine, the USA, the UK, France and Germany.”

Two people were killed and eight more were wounded in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, the regional governor said this morning.

“The aggressor again conducted a mass attack on the region with drones,” Serhiy Lysak, governor for the central Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram, adding that 11 drones were destroyed over the region.

Mr Lysak said that several fires had broken out in the city, posting a photo of a fire raging on some levels of a multi-storey building.

He said that six of the wounded were hospitalised while two others, including a 15-year-old girl, were treated on site.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said after talks with Donald Trump that the US and its European allies agree that Russia is a long-term threat.

“We all agree in Nato that Russia is the long-term threat to Nato territory – to the whole of the Euro-Atlantic territory,” Mr Rutte told reporters outside the White House.

He also said the US remained committed to Nato, even as Washington increasingly focuses on the Asia-Pacific region.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the Russian missile that struck a residential building in Kyiv overnight and killed 12 people was supplied by North Korea.

A North Korean KN-23 missile hit a residential block in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of Kyiv’s centre during a major aerial attack by Russia, Reuters reported, citing an Ukrainian military source.

“According to preliminary information, the Russians used a ballistic missile manufactured in North Korea. Our special services are verifying all the details,” Mr Zelensky said on X, without providing further details.

Russia made no comment on Mr Zelensky’s remarks. Russia and North Korea have denied weapons transfers that would violate UN embargoes.

President Donald Trump has said Russia’s failure to forcibly seize and occupy the entirety of Ukraine’s territory amounts to a “pretty big concession” to Kyiv.

Speaking in the Oval Office during a bilateral meeting with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Mr Trump insisted that he is putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin behind the scenes as reporters asked him what he would ask the Russian leader to give up to match the massive territorial concessions he has asked Ukraine to make as a way to find an end to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the end of the Second World War.

Mr Trump replied: “Stopping the war, stopping [from] taking the whole country.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he wished Donald Trump would realise that “Russia is the aggressor” in the three-year-long war in Europe.

“We consider United States as a strong strategic partner with an influence, and we would really like to have peace through strength,” Mr Zelensky told Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro.

He added: “That would be useful with Russia so that the force would be toward Russia because they’re the aggressor.”“I highly respect the fact that he’s searching for [peace]. That’s his approach,” he said, referring to Mr Trump.

“But you shouldn’t be saying that Ukraine … started this war. I believe that it’s painful for our people to hear. This is why we responded this way.”