The occasion was initially supposed to incorporate feedback to the media by Zelenskyy and retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, however it was modified on the final minute to a easy picture alternative the place the 2 posed for journalists. They didn’t ship statements or discipline questions as anticipated. The change was requested by the U.S. aspect, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov stated.
Kellogg’s journey to Kyiv coincided with latest feuding between Trump and Zelenskyy that has bruised their private relations and forged additional doubt on the way forward for U.S. assist for Ukraine’s struggle effort.
The 2 males had been due to talk about Trump’s efforts to finish the struggle. Zelenskyy had beforehand stated he appeared ahead to explaining what was taking place in Ukraine and displaying it to Kellogg.
Kellogg, one of many architects of a staunchly conservative coverage e-book laying out an “America First” nationwide safety agenda, has lengthy been Trump’s prime adviser on protection points.
Writing on his Telegram channel, Zelenskyy stated the assembly with Kellogg was a “good conversation, lots of details.” He stated they mentioned safety ensures for Ukraine and the return of Ukrainian prisoners from Russian custody.
“We can and must make peace reliable and lasting so that Russia can never return with war again,” he wrote. “Ukraine is ready for a strong, truly beneficial agreement with the President of the United States on investments and security.”
Zelenskyy and Trump have traded rebukes in latest days.
The spat erupted after Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to begin working towards ending the struggle in Ukraine and enhancing their diplomatic and financial ties. With that, Trump abruptly reversed the three-year U.S. coverage of isolating Russia.
Zelenskyy was sad {that a} U.S. crew opened the talks with out inviting him or European governments which have backed Kyiv.
When Trump claimed Zelenskyy was deeply unpopular in Ukraine, the president stated Trump was residing in a Russian-made “disinformation space,” suggesting he had been duped by Putin.
However Zelenskyy “retains a fairly high level of public trust” — about 57 p.c — in response to a report launched Wednesday by the Kyiv Worldwide Institute of Sociology.
Trump accused Zelenskyy of being “A Dictator without Elections!!” As a result of struggle, Ukraine did delay elections that had been scheduled for April 2024.
Trump additionally instructed that Ukraine was accountable for the struggle.
Russia’s military crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was wanted to guard Russian-speaking civilians in japanese Ukraine and forestall the nation from becoming a member of NATO.
On Wednesday, Trump warned Zelenskyy that he “better move fast” to barter an finish to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or threat not having a nation to guide.
European leaders shortly threw their assist behind Zelenskyy.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz whose nation has been Kyiv’s second-biggest weapons provider after the U.S., stated it was “wrong and dangerous” to disclaim Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Zelenskyy on Wednesday and expressed assist for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader,” Starmer’s workplace stated, including that it was “perfectly reasonable” to postpone elections throughout wartime.
Russian officers, in the meantime, are basking in Washington’s consideration and providing phrases of assist for Trump’s stance.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated “the rhetoric of Zelenskyy and many representatives of the Kyiv regime in general leaves much to be desired” — a veiled reference to Ukrainian criticism of Putin.
“Representatives of the Ukrainian regime, especially in recent months, often allow themselves to make statements about the heads of other states that are completely unacceptable,” Peskov stated in a convention name with reporters.
Amid the diplomatic clamor, Ukrainian civilians proceed to endure Russian strikes. Russia fired 161 Shahed and decoy drones and as much as 14 missiles of varied varieties at Ukraine in a single day from Wednesday to Thursday, in response to navy authorities.
A Russian glide bomb struck an condominium block within the southern metropolis of Kherson on Wednesday night time, killing one individual and wounding six, together with 14-year-old twins, authorities stated.
The southern port metropolis of Odesa additionally got here underneath a Russian drone assault for the second consecutive night time, leaving virtually 50,000 houses with out electrical energy in freezing winter temperatures, officers stated.