THE US has dramatically pulled the plug on a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky after he met with one of Trump’s envoys.
It comes amid a period of diplomatic turmoil between the US and Ukraine after Trump branded him a “dictator”.
ReutersUS special envoy to Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv today[/caption]
AFPThe 45th Artillery Brigade firing toward Russian positions, in the Donetsk region[/caption]
AFPDonald Trump sparked outrage when he called Zelensky a ‘dictator’[/caption]
The Ukrainian president today met with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv.
But their joint news conference which was due to follow was cancelled last-minute at the request of US officials, Zelensky’s office said.
His spokesman Serhii Nikiforov gave no other reason for the briefing being called off other than it was in accordance with US wishes.
Kellogg’s trip to the Ukrainian capital comes amid a feud between Trump and Zelensky that has bruised their personal relations and cast further doubt on the future of US support for Ukraine’s war effort.
Trump sparked uproar yesterday after lashing out at Ukraine’s wartime leader and accusing him of “refusing to have elections”.
In a shocking social media rant, Trump warned “modestly successful comedian” Zelensky must “move fast or he is not going to have a country left”.
Trump also claimed the Ukrainian president talked the US into “spending $350 billion dollars to go into a war that couldn’t be won”.
He also later insisted he “trusts” that Russia wants peace after branding Zelensky a “dictator without elections”.
Trump then once again labelled Zelensky a “dictator” after the Ukrainian leader said he was “living in a disinformation space”.
Zelensky also accused Trump of falling for Russia’s propaganda and fake news as he told of his fury of Ukraine being excluded from peace talks.
The White House has now heaped pressure on Zelensky to “sign that deal” – and warned him to “tone down” the criticism.
Mike Waltz, the White House national security adviser, told Fox News: “They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal.”
The deal he referred to was a critical minerals deal with Washington for providing aid to Ukraine during the war with Russia.
Waltz said pushback on the deal and how Trump is conducting peace talks is “simply unacceptable”.
Zelensky and leaders of Western nations were left reeling after being iced out of high-stakes talks on a plan to end the almost three-year war.
It sparked an emergency meeting of European leaders in France earlier this week.
Discussions between Washington and Moscow began after Trump and Putin spoke by telephone last week.
But Waltz denied Ukraine and its allies were being frozen out.
Wrong, Donald
The Sun Says…
DONALD Trump’s smearing of the Ukraine regime as scam artists who provoked a war using US taxpayers’ money is a rant beneath the dignity of his office.
Almost nothing in it is true.
It reads like a post on a forum for conspiracy theorists. It is an unprecedentedly shocking statement from the President of the United States.
Vladimir Putin has made no secret of his imperialist ambitions, nor his denial of his neighbour’s right to exist as a sovereign, free country.
He invaded Ukraine, butchered and raped its people, stole its children and bombed its cities.
President Zelensky — far from duping anyone or inviting the conflict, far from being a “dictator without elections” — has been a heroic wartime leader who needs Western aid to overcome staggering odds.
The idea he is riding a “gravy train” is laughable. And his people, with whom he remains highly popular whatever Trump claims, have resisted conquest with immense bravery.
It is troubling and short-sighted in the extreme for the so-called leader of the free world to have no interest in a war raging in Europe because he is separated from it by the Atlantic.
America is not a business where Trump, as CEO, has no task except to slash costs and maximise profits. It is the most powerful democracy on Earth with global responsibilities and — let’s be frank — a duty to discern right from wrong with absolute moral clarity.
Others in the White House should urgently point this out.
He said: “There’s a term for this in diplomacy. It’s called shuttle diplomacy, because bringing everybody to the table at once just hasn’t worked in the past.
“So we’ve engaged one side, we’ve engaged the other side, and then we’re going to have a process moving forward under President Trump’s direction and leadership.”
It comes as the US refuses to co-sponsor a draft UN resolution marking three years since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that backs Kyiv’s territorial integrity and condemns Russian aggression, three diplomatic sources told Reuters.
The step appears to mirror a widening rift between Zelensky and Trump.
The draft resolution, seen by Reuters, slams Russian aggression and reaffirms a commitment “to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
One of the sources said: “In previous years, the United States has consistently co-sponsored such resolutions in support of a just peace in Ukraine.”
Sir Keir Starmer today held private calls with European leaders to “make sure the alliance doesn’t fracture”, culture secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News.
GettyVladimir Putin spoke with Trump last week[/caption]
The PM backed Zelensky following Trump’s outburst and said it was “perfectly reasonable” for Ukraine to “suspend elections during wartime as the UK did during World War Two”.
He previously said he has said he is “ready and willing” to put British boots on the ground in the war-torn country.
It would come as part of a security guarantee in the event of some sort of a ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Sir Keir is planning to present a plan to Donald Trump to send 30,000 European troops to Ukraine to police a 1000km frontline.
He is expected to ask for American jets and weapons to be on standby in Eastern Europe under the plan, the Telegraph reported.
But Vladimir Putin’s puppet spokesman has branded the proposal as “unacceptable” because it would involve forces from a Nato member state and therefore have ramifications for Russia’s own security.
Dmitry Peskov said: “This causes concern for us, because we’re talking about sending military contingents – about the possible, eventual sending of military contingents from Nato countries to Ukraine.
“This takes on a completely different meaning from the point of view of our security. We’re monitoring this very closely.”