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]
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.
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.
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