US President Donald Trump has warned he would "not put up" much longer with Volodymyr Zelenskyy's stance on the war with Russia, as the Ukrainian leader countered he wanted to end it "as soon as possible."
In a new sign of frayed ties following their White House blow-up last week, Trump on Monday called a comment by Zelenskyy saying an agreement to end the war remained distant "the worst statement that could have been made" by him.
"America will not put up with it for much longer," Trump said on social media.
The comment came after the Ukrainian president accused Russia of not being serious about peace and warned that tough security guarantees were the only way to end the more than three-year conflict.
Trump's attacks on Zelenskyy have upended US support for Ukraine and Washington's allies more broadly and stoked concern about the United States pivoting to Russia.
After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month truce "in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure" to halt the war.
The summit reaffirmed European backing for Kiev and saw a pledge to spend more on security to defend any truce, including, potentially, with troops.
Zelenskyy said after the meeting that discussions were still focusing on the "first steps," adding: "An agreement on ending the war is very, very far away" — a comment that angered Trump.
However, Zelenskyy said on Monday on X he "very much hopes on US support on the path to peace."
"It is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war as soon as possible," he said.
'He doesn't want peace'
Russia dismissed Zelenskyy's comments, accusing him of not wanting peace — echoing US criticisms after he was shouted down in the Oval Office on Friday.
Trump has previously called Zelenskyy, president since 2019, a "dictator" for not holding elections, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war.
Zelenskyy dismissed calls for him to resign, repeating his pledge to do so only if Ukraine were given NATO membership, which Russia — and now the United States under Trump — opposes.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Zelenskyy for Friday's White House blow-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying he "demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic abilities."
"He doesn't want peace," Peskov told reporters.
But Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the astonishing clash was a "deliberate escalation" by Trump.
US and Russian officials recently held talks on ending the war in Saudi Arabia, enraging Ukraine and Europe for being sidelined, and prompting fears in Kiev and beyond that any deal could threaten the country's future.
