Russia and Ukraine trade blame over faltering peace moves

(Reuters) -Russia and Ukraine traded new barbs over faltering peace efforts on Thursday, with Moscow accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of blocking diplomacy and Kyiv saying Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted the war to continue.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will walk away from trying to negotiate a settlement to end Russia's war in Ukraine if Kyiv and Moscow do not make a deal soon.

Control of Crimea, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, has emerged as a major sticking point between Moscow and Kyiv, and Zelenskiy angered Trump by reiterating on Tuesday that he would not recognise the peninsula as part of Russia.

Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday that Crimea was lost years ago "and is not even a point of discussion."

Asked about that remark on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily news briefing that Trump's position "completely corresponds with our understanding and with what we have been saying for a long time."

Peskov said Russia was continuing to work with the Americans to achieve a peace settlement that ensures Moscow's interests are taken into account.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a separate briefing it was becoming clearer by the minute that Zelenskiy lacked the capacity to negotiate a deal to end the war.

She accused him of derailing talks on Ukraine on Wednesday in London involving U.S., Ukrainian and European officials, and said the Ukrainian leader was clearly ready to "torpedo the emerging peace process at any cost."

"Yesterday Zelenskiy categorically refused to make any concessions," Zakharova said, "and demonstratively expressed his desire to negotiate only a ceasefire - and even then on his own terms."

Ukraine says it wants a just peace and that Russia is dragging out talks and trying to win time to grab more Ukrainian land in addition to territory it already holds in Crimea and four eastern Ukrainian regions.

Ukrainian officials stepped up their criticism after an overnight Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv that killed at least eight people.

"Yesterday's Russian maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Syhiba wrote on X.

"Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war."

DIFFERENCES OVER CRIMEA

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 following a disputed referendum condemned by the United Nations General Assembly, the U.S., Ukraine and many other countries.

Putin said at the time that Crimea, which changed hands between Russia and Ukraine during Soviet rule in 1954, has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia.

Zelenskiy said recognising Crimea as part of Russia would violate Ukraine's constitution. Its annexation has been recognised by few countries.

Crimea is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet, and Russia has used the peninsula to launch missile and drone attacks on Ukraine during the war. Kyiv has also fired missiles at Crimea.

Ukraine says it is committed to seeking a full and unconditional ceasefire. After talks with the U.S, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day truce last month but Putin responded with a list of conditions and questions, saying such a pause would give Ukraine the chance to mobilise more soldiers and acquire more weapons.

Zakharova said decisions by European countries to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv were encouraging Zelenskiy to pursue the war, regardless of casualties, and that their attitude showed some European countries were frightened by the prospect of a Russian victory.

European countries supplying arms to Kyiv say it needs weapons to defend itself following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 in which tens of thousands of people have been killed, millions have been displaced and towns across Ukraine devastated.

(Reporting by Moscow Bureau; Writing by Lucy Papachristou, Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Timothy Heritage)