White House on Trump's remark toward Zelenskyy: US president is "running very thin"

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, commenting on the latest critical statement by Donald Trump towards his Ukrainian counterpart, has said that the US president is "running very thin" and urged Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to comment on the talks in the press.

Source: European Pravda, citing Leavitt during a conversation with journalists outside the White House on 23 April

Details: Leavitt once again emphasised that the US is not demanding that Ukraine recognise Crimea as "Russian".

"[Trump] is asking for people to come to the negotiating table recognising that this has been a brutal war for far too long, and in order to make a good deal, both sides have to walk away a little bit unhappy," she said.

"Unfortunately President Zelenskyy has been trying to litigate this peace negotiation in the press and that's unacceptable to the president [Trump], these should be closed door negotiations," Leavitt added.

She noted that the US had spent a lot of time and resources trying to end this war and now Trump is "frustrated, his patience is running very thin".

"He wants to see the killing stop but you need both sides of the war willing to do that, and unfortunately President Zelenskyy seems to be moving in the wrong direction," Leavitt concluded.

Background: 

• Trump's administration handed Ukraine a one-page document in Paris last week, presented as a "final proposal" for a peace settlement. Among other things, the US was ready to recognise Russia's control over Ukrainian Crimea and to ease sanctions against Moscow.
• Zelenskyy recently reiterated that Ukraine does not recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea, which is internationally acknowledged as Ukrainian territory.
• Trump criticised Zelenskyy over his statement rejecting the recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, claiming such a stance harms peace negotiations.

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