Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Donald Trump was exerting undue pressure on him in trying to secure a resolution to the nearly four-year-old Russia-Ukraine war. In an interview with Axios, Zelenskyy said it was “not fair” Trump kept publicly calling on Ukraine, not Russia, to make concessions in negotiating terms for a peace plan. “I hope it is just his tactics and not the decision,” Zelenskyy said in an interview conducted as Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators held talks in Geneva. Trump has twice in recent days suggested it was up to Ukraine and Zelenskyy to take steps to ensure the talks proved successful. The Ukrainian defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said the effect on Russian operations had been considerable.

Source: The Guardian February 18, 2026 04:50 UTC