Kremlin says Zelenskyy needs to be forced to make peace

The Kremlin on Monday accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not wanting peace, following a clash last week between the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump.

"He doesn't want peace. Someone should make him want peace. If the Europeans do it, all kudos to them," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He described Friday's angry public encounter between Trump and Zelenskyy as "quite an unprecedented event".

He put the blame on Zelenskyy, who he said "demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic abilities. To put it mildly."

Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was aware of what happened, saying it proved Russia's view of the conflict correct.

He suggested that European allies will also have to soothe Trump, saying "someone will have to make sizable efforts in dialogue with Washington in order to somehow cancel out the unpleasant residue that undoubtedly remains in the White House after talking to Zelenskyy".

In this situation, "clearly the efforts of Washington alone and the readiness of Moscow will not be enough", Peskov said.

West 'losing collective unity'

The Kremlin commented after Ukraine's European allies held crisis talks in London at the weekend and Zelenskyy said he would work with Europe to set terms for a possible peace deal.

The Kremlin spokesman described the situation as "complex", saying that "the collective West has begun to partially lose its collective unity" on Ukraine.

"Although possible peace plans are being initially sketched out, it is not possible yet to say that there is a coherent peace plan."

Russia is continuing its "special military operation" in Ukraine, "in order to achieve the aims that it had from the start," Peskov said.