Russia has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of ruining diplomatic efforts to reach a peace agreement after he refused this week to recognize Moscow's annexation of Crimea, Reuters reported.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that it was becoming increasingly clear that Zelensky was incapable of negotiating an agreement to end the war.
The Ukrainian leader said on Tuesday that recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would violate Ukraine's constitution.
Last month, Ukraine agreed to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has set a number of conditions and questions, noting that such a pause would give Ukraine the opportunity to mobilize more troops and acquire more weapons.
US President Donald Trump yesterday rebuked Zelensky for refusing to recognize Russian claims to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Last week, Trump warned that the US would abandon its attempts to mediate a peace deal in Ukraine if Kiev and Moscow did not reach an agreement soon.
Zakharova said that the decision of some European countries to continue supplying weapons to Kiev would encourage Zelensky to continue the war, regardless of the casualties. According to Zakharova, this attitude shows that some European countries are frightened by the prospect of a Russian victory.