Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump resides in a Russian-made “disinformation space” because of this of his administration’s discussions with Kremlin officials.
Zelenskyy said he “would really like Trump’s team to be more truthful.”
He made the comments shortly before he was expected to satisfy with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, who arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday. Kellogg will meet Zelenskyy and military commanders because the U.S. shifts its policy away from years of efforts to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump suggested Tuesday that Kyiv was responsible for the war, which enters its fourth 12 months next week, as talks between top American and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia sidelined Ukraine and its European supporters.
French President Emmanuel Macron was to carry a videoconference on Ukraine later Wednesday with leaders of over 15 countries, mostly European nations, “with the aim of gathering all partners interested by peace and security” on the continent, his office said.
Key European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday after they felt they’d been sidelined by the Trump administration.
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Trump’s comments are more likely to vex Ukrainian officials, who’ve urged the world to assist them fight Russia’s full-scale invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.
Trump also said at Mar-a-Lago that Zelenskyy’s rating stood at 4 per cent.
Zelenskyy replied in a news conference within the Ukrainian capital Kyiv that “we’ve got seen this disinformation. We understand that it’s coming from Russia.” He said that Trump “lives on this disinformation space.”
Trump also suggested Ukraine should hold elections, which have been postponed attributable to the war and the resultant imposition of martial law, in accordance with the Ukrainian Structure.
Zelenskyy questioned claims, which he didn’t specify, that 90 per cent of all aid received by Ukraine comes from the US.
He said that, as an illustration, about 34 per cent of all weapons in Ukraine are domestically produced, over 30 per cent of support comes from Europe, and as much as 40 per cent from the U.S.
The battlefield has also brought grim news for Ukraine in recent months. A relentless onslaught in eastern areas by Russia’s greater army is grinding down Ukrainian forces, that are slowly but steadily being pushed backward at some points on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.
Trump told reporters at his Florida residence Tuesday that Ukraine “must have never began” the war and “could have made a deal” to forestall it.
Kellogg said his visit to Kyiv was “a likelihood to have some good, substantial talks.” Zelenskyy was attributable to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday but canceled his trip in what some analysts saw as an try and deny legitimacy to the U.S.-Russia talks in regards to the way forward for his country.
American officials have signaled that Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO so as to ward off Russian aggression after reaching a possible peace agreement won’t occur. Zelenskyy says any settlement would require U.S. security commitments to maintain Russia at bay.
“We understand the necessity for security guarantees,” Kellogg said in comments carried by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Novyny on his arrival at Kyiv train station.
“It’s very clear to us the importance of the sovereignty of this nation and the independence of this nation as well. … A part of my mission is to sit down and listen,” the retired three-star general said.
Kellogg said he would convey what he learns on his visit to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “and be certain that we get this one right.”
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