THE US has thrown down a final ultimatum to Russia and Ukraine, warning the sides must make a deal now – or it will “walk away”
Trump has been trying to since he took power, and his patience now seems near breaking-point.
, Trump's vice-president, said on Wednesday: “We've issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians.
“It's time for them to either say ‘yes', or for the to walk away from this process.”
Vance said it was a very fair proposal that would freeze the front-lines near to where they are now, and require both sides to give up some territory.
He did not provide further details of the proposal, but it could refer to the US has reportedly drawn up.
This was expected to be presented to international foreign minsters in today, but the talks were scrapped last minute when the US pulled out.
The US efforts to broker peace have included repeated meetings between .
Putin has continually been accused of scuppering negotiations and seeking to extend the war.
Earlier this month, Trump issued a blistering warning to Putin that he and accept a peace deal.
Then, last week, the US's Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed America would unless progress came quickly.
Speaking after peace talks in Paris, Rubio said: “We're not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end.
“So we need to determine very quickly now, and I'm talking about a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks.
“If it is we're in. If it's not, then we have other priorities to focus on as well.”
Hours later, Trump agreed the US would “take a pass” if either or Kyiv “make it very difficult” to reach a peace deal.
Vance's latest ultimatum suggests the US has very nearly had enough and is on the brink of abandoning their efforts.
Planned “substantive” talks in London on Wednesday were scrapped when Rubio dropped out last-minute drop-out – which he blamed on “scheduling issues”.
The summit was supposed to include foreign ministers from major nations, but was scaled back in light of the no-show.
Ukraine’s foreign and defence ministers still met their British counterparts and John Healey.
The pared-back talks took place in the wake of reported to feature on the US's seven-point peace plan.
The US reportedly offered to recognise Russian ownership of Ukraine's Crimea region, which it invaded in 2014.
The concession was made in exchange for Putin agreeing to freeze the in his last meeting with Witkoff.
He reportedly also hinted he was willing to stopand give up his official claims to four parts of Ukraine Russia, three source told theFinancial Times.
Butvowedwould not, under any circumstances, hand over the land.
He said: “There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine.”
This position pits Ukraine directly at odds with the US, in light of the terms of the new peace proposal.
The seven-point plan drawn up by the US would, according TheTelegraph, allow Russia tokeep some of the.
However, a glaring omission from the plan is the lack of any clear US security guarantees.
Putin's proposal to halt advances would mark the first time he has given credible signs he is willing to soften his radical demands.
But European officials briefed on the US-driven peace efforts have warned that Putin is not to be trusted.
They said he to manipulate Trump into accepting ‘s other demands.
One official told theFT: “There is a lot of pressure on Kyiv right now to give up on things so Trump can claim victory.”
Zelensky echoed that warning.
He said that discussions to include Crimea in any peace offer risk placing negotiations into the hands of the .
By putting Crimea on the table, he insisted the US would be playing into Putin's “game”.
Zelensky said: “As soon as talks about Crimea and our sovereign territories begin, the talks enter the format that Russia wants — prolonging the war – because it will not be possible to agree on everything quickly.
“We know where these signals are sounding and will continue to sound.”
He said he did not know whether the inclusion of Crimea originated from Russia or US representatives.
