The U.S. has repeated threats that it may be about to give up on trying to forge a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Washington says it's losing patience with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who Donald Trump has accused of being "hard to work with". But Zelenskyy says he can't accept the terms of the deal, which includes ceding parts of Ukraine to Russia.
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00:00A Russia-Ukraine peace deal is ready to go, but there's one man standing in its way,
00:05says Washington. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
00:08I think we have a deal with Russia, we have to get a deal with Zelensky,
00:13and I hope that Zelensky, I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky.
00:16So far it's been harder.
00:18U.S. threats to abandon peace brokering between Kyiv and Moscow are growing.
00:23This week, top U.S. officials pulled out of a London meeting on the issue.
00:27Now Washington says its patience is growing thin,
00:30as the Ukrainian president apparently drags his feet on the deal.
00:34But you need both sides of the war willing to do that,
00:38and unfortunately President Zelensky seems to be moving in the wrong direction.
00:41But what's in this peace deal exactly?
00:44The U.S.-crafted proposal explicitly bans Ukraine from joining NATO,
00:49a key concern for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
00:51It also calls on Kyiv to cede much of the land it's already lost, including Crimea.
00:57Annexed by Russia in 2014.
00:59But for Zelensky, that's just not an option.
01:03Ukraine does not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea.
01:07There's nothing to talk about.
01:09It is outside our constitution.
01:12This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine.
01:15Just last night, the streets of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, were filled with sirens and explosions.
01:28As missiles and drone strikes killed at least nine people and injured dozens more.
01:35Despite Russia's full-scale invasion being deep into its third year,
01:39the people in this city remain defiant.
01:43Crimea is certainly a part of Ukraine, and it's not hub to any discussion.
01:51We do not need peace at this price.
01:54Boys have been dying for more than ten years, and we cannot betray them.
01:59There will be another country to mediate.
02:03The United States is not the only option.
02:06While Trump says he has no favorites in this fight,
02:10I have no favorites.
02:11the terms of the deal do seem to favor Russia.
02:14But the side that the U.S. is really backing may just be itself.
02:18The U.S. just wants any deal.
02:22And that, it doesn't matter whether it's a good deal for Ukraine or a good deal for Russia,
02:28they want to be able to show that they are a broker and maybe a power player.
02:34Zelensky, now in South Africa for more diplomatic outreach,
02:37says that Ukraine is ready to talk with Russia when a ceasefire is agreed.
02:42But whether Washington will be there too remains an uncomfortable uncertainty.
02:46Scott Huang and Rees for Taiwan Plus.