Putin ‘deliberately making maximalist demands’ as Trump’s quick Ukraine deal on brink

has been accused of making extreme demands to end the war as ‘s hope of bringing a swift end to the conflict appears on the brink. Western security officials have issued a dire warning that the Russian president is unwilling to compromise on his tough stance on , and Ukrainian neutrality. They accused him of deliberately issuing a “maximalist” goals and he will continue fighting if they are not met, as per .

This potentially jeopardises the US president’s mission of creating peace in by April – the rapidly approaching deadline given to his negotiating team as they met with Ukrainian counterparts in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. On Friday, the Republican told the White House that , but this latest warning of his demands casts doubt on that statement.

Mr Trump said he was “finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with ” after he came to blows with during their heated meeting at the end of February.

Moscow appeared to echo the US president’s statement and hit back at the Western officials for suggesting it was not

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: ” is open for peace efforts, for peace settlement around , and we actually prefer to reach our goals through peaceful and diplomatic means.

“If today and tomorrow shows that is ready for negotiations, it will be a different story.”

The security officials suggested Putin is refusing to compromise on a peace deal because there is little incentive for him to do so, as it may be Mr Zelensky who ends up being blamed for stalling the process.

This comes as US and Ukrainian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. One of President Zelensky’s aides said discussions, taking place at a luxury hotel,

Andriy Yermak, representing , said the most important thing was “how to achieve a just and lasting peace in “, adding that security guarantees were also important to prevent from invading again in the future.

This marks the first time the two countries have met since Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump’s heated exchange at the White House two weeks ago, in which the Ukrainian president was accused of not being thankful enough for US aid.