President Donald Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, saying it is "inflammatory" of Zelenskyy to assert that Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. Trump said that such statements will prolong the war.

"This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion," Trump said on his social media platform. "Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn't they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?"

"It's inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy's that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about!" Trump added. "The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the 'killing field,' and nobody wants that!"

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy told ABC News that Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea, saying "it is outside our Constitution. It is our territory, the territory of the Ukrainian people."

-- ABC News' Will Gretsky

President DOnald Trump spent his Wednesday morning with a surprise appearance on the White House North Lawn, strolling around the property and meeting with the head groundskeeper for what he said are plans to install two new flagpoles.

"We're putting up a beautiful, almost 100-foot-tall American flag on this side, and another one on the other side," he told reporters. "Two flags, top of the line."

"Paid for by Trump," the president said, adding that "they arrive in about a week or so."

During a podcast interview, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about the ongoing negotiations over Ukraine and said that while it may take more than a few days to figure out if a negotiated settlement was possible, we "should be optimistic." He said both Moscow and Kyiv would need to compromise.

"I'm hopeful that we can get to something quickly," Rubio said, adding that a resolution might not come by the end of the week, as the president has suggested. "And I remain hopeful that we can get something done because this is a terrible war and it needs to end."

On territorial claims, Rubio said "we have to be frank," emphasizing that "Russia is not just going to roll over Ukraine and take the whole country, and Ukraine's not going to push them all the way back to where they were before 2014."

Speaking to reporters early Wednesday morning, Vance expressed his belief that the U.S. has "put together a very fair proposal."

"We've issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process," Vance said.

-- ABC News' Shannon Kingston and Alex Ederson

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Wednesday morning, saying the press has characterized the changes that he has pushed at the Pentagon as "chaos," and that the press characterized the 6 to 8% shift in existing DOD budget resources as a "cut."

Hegseth did not comment on any of the current controversies he is facing, instead focusing on restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and restoring deterrence.

He noted that the U.S. Army War College students are the future of the U.S. military.

-- ABC News' Luis Martinez