TodayPrice

Tag: Zelensky

  • Trump warns US could ditch Ukraine talks if no progress

    Trump warns US could ditch Ukraine talks if no progress

    US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Washington could quit talks to end the Ukraine war within days unless there is rapid progress from Moscow and Kyiv.

    The warning confirmed a sudden change of US messaging, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier saying in Paris that the United States would “move on” if peace was not “doable.”

    Trump has been pressing both sides for a truce, but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin despite an ice-breaking call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and repeated negotiations with Moscow.

    “Yeah very shortly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked to confirm what Rubio had said about abandoning talks. “No specific number of days, but quickly. We want to get it done.”

    Trump refused to cast blame on either Putin, who ordered the February 2022 full-scale invasion of pro-Western Ukraine, or Kyiv’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. But he insisted both sides had to make progress.

    “Now if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say: ‘You’re foolish. You’re fools. You’re horrible people’ — and we’re going to just take a pass,” Trump said.

    “But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”

    – ‘Move on’ –

    Moscow has kept up strikes on Ukraine, killing at least two people and wounding dozens more in attacks on the northeastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy, Ukrainian officials said.

    One of the few commitments Trump had wrangled from Russia — a temporary moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure — “expired” on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to an AFP question.

    After meeting European officials in Paris to discuss a ceasefire, Rubio said Washington needed to figure out soon whether a ceasefire was “doable in the short term.”

    “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” he told reporters.

    But speaking on a trip to Italy, US Vice President JD Vance still insisted he was “optimistic” about ending the three-year war.

    Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office but has little to show for his efforts so far.

    He has embarked on a rapprochement quest with the Kremlin that has alarmed Kyiv and driven a wedge between the United States and its European allies.

    He and Vance also had a blazing Oval Office row in February with Zelensky, whom he still accuses of bearing responsibility for Moscow’s invasion.

    Trump insisted that he was not being “played” by Moscow, which is accused by Ukraine of dragging its feet.

    “My whole life has been one big negotiation and I know when people are playing us and I know when they’re not,” the billionaire property tycoon added.

    – ‘Mockery’ –

    Zelensky meanwhile slammed the latest attacks on his country, which came just days before Easter.

    Kyiv earlier announced it had received the bodies of 909 soldiers from Russia.

    “This is how Russia started Good Friday — with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shahed drones. A mockery of our people and cities,” Zelensky said on Telegram.

    Russia said it had hit “key drone production sites” and Ukrainian military airfields.

    Putin last month rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional pause in the conflict, while the Kremlin has made a truce in the Black Sea conditional on the West lifting certain sanctions.

    Trump has also repeatedly expressed anger and frustration at Zelensky in a marked break from his predecessor, Joe Biden.

    Ukraine is set to sign a deal next week in Washington that would give the United States sweeping access to its mineral resources.

    European powers have meanwhile been seeking a seat at the table in the negotiations, particularly as Trump’s administration insists the continent should share the burden for Ukraine’s security.

    France hosted meetings between US and European officials in Paris on Thursday, saying the talks had launched a “positive process.”

    The meetings included French President Emmanuel Macron, Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

    Many allies have however been alarmed by Witkoff — who recently met Putin in Russia — repeating Moscow’s talking points about the war.

  • Zelensky urges pressure on Russia to end war

    Zelensky urges pressure on Russia to end war

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged “pressure” on Russia to end the three-year war as his top aides visited Paris for talks with US and EU officials on the conflict.

    At least 10 people were reported killed and dozens wounded Thursday as Russia pounded Ukraine with drone strikes and shells.

    “Russia uses every day and every night to kill. We must put pressure on the killers … to end this war and guarantee a lasting peace,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post.

    Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said he had arrived to Paris with Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov for talks with US, British, Germany and French officials — without saying with who.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, are meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday about crafting a ceasefire in Ukraine.

    The meeting comes after a spate of deadly Russian air strikes on Ukrainian cities that has triggered outrage in Kyiv and Europe.

    Zelensky’s office said his team in Paris will discuss “bringing peace to Ukraine.”

    “Among other things, the parties will discuss ways to implement a full and unconditional ceasefire, the deployment of a multinational military contingent to ensure security, and the further development of Ukraine’s security architecture,” Ukraine’s presidency said in a statement.

    The Kremlin dismissed the talks and accused Kyiv’s allies of wanting to drag out the war.

    “Unfortunately we see from Europeans a focus on continuing the war,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, when asked about what he expected from the talks.

    Russia launched a “massive” drone salvo overnight on the city of Dnipro that killed three and wounded more then 30, local governor Sergiy Lysak said.

    Fires broke out at apartment blocks in the city after the attack.

    Two more were killed in artillery strikes in Nikopol, down south from Dnipro, Lysak added, while local officials also reported fatalities in the frontline areas in the Donetsk and Kherson regions.

    Russia’s army also claimed to have captured a small village in the eastern Donetsk region, where its troops have been grinding forward for months.

  • Zelensky ‘to visit South Africa’ April 10

    Zelensky ‘to visit South Africa’ April 10

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit South Africa next month, the African country’s presidency announced Friday.

    “President Zelensky will be visiting South Africa on the 10th of April,” presidency spokesman Vincent Magwenya told AFP.

    The visit “is a continuation of ongoing engagements” on “an inclusive peace process” between Russia and Ukraine, he said.

    South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last week invited Zelensky on a state visit, after heavy criticism of moves by Russia and the United States to negotiate an end to the war through a process to which neither Ukraine nor its European allies were invited.

    “South Africa remains committed to supporting the dialogue process between Russia and Ukraine,” Ramaphosa said in a post on X.

    The two leaders have a “constructive engagement” and agree on “the urgent need for an inclusive peace process that involves all parties,” Ramaphosa said.

    Zelensky thanked Ramaphosa for supporting “Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and said he hoped for peace this year.

    “It is important that our countries share the same position: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Zelensky said on X last week.

  • African lessons Zelenskyy may use in Ukraine, by Azu Ishiekwene

    African lessons Zelenskyy may use in Ukraine, by Azu Ishiekwene

    The live drama staged in the Oval Office on February 28 between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was such that Zelenskyy might never have rehearsed in all his former life as a comedian.

    Except that it wasn’t funny. It was unprecedented. You would need to go back 64 years to find anything nearly as nasty as the Trump-Zelenskyy shouting match, with Trump’s deputy, JD Vance, enthusiastically fanning the flames.

    The showdown between John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev before the Cuban Missile Crisis was hair-raising, but it wasn’t before a global audience or live TV. Everything else in between, from Richard Nixon’s spats during Watergate to Robert Mugabe’s faceoff with Magaret Thatcher over the Lancaster Agreement, has been child’s play compared with the Trump-Zelenskyy verbal brawl.

    Dangerous enemy, fatal friend

    There have been suggestions that Trump and Vance staged it to find an excuse to abandon Ukraine or to extract the best deal possible for the US over minerals rights in Ukraine. Whatever, it was Trump, yet again, being Trump. However, even if that were so, Zelenskyy should have been wiser than to turn a dangerous enemy into a fatal friend.

    As he flits across Europe and signals a willingness for another meeting with Trump to patch things up, there are a few unfamiliar lessons he might use to save the day and spare his country from being the meatgrinder it has tragically become.

    Africa’s path

    Africa is an unlikely place to look because hardly any country suffered the Soviet Union-style breakup. However, the continent offers several examples of countries digging themselves out of or managing conflicts and potentially devasting wars to which their colonial histories predisposed them.

    From Cameroon to Somalia and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, several countries on the continent still struggle to find common peaceful existence against a legacy of arbitrary, self-serving partitions created by colonial rule. It’s no less a daunting existential struggle than the one currently confronting Ukraine, a smaller sovereign nation bordering a behemoth like Russia.

    For example, for many years, Nigeria and Cameroon, with overlapping colonial boundaries, squabbled over the Bakassi peninsula separating them containing large oil and gas reserves. Nigerians, mainly farmers and fishermen, largely populated the area. The Cameroonian authorities claimed it was bequeathed to them by an Anglo-German treaty in the 20th century.

    Beyond David vs. Goliath

    The point is not the relative military strength of the combatants – whether or not it was a David vs. Goliath matchup like one between Ukraine and Russia. It’s about preventing a dangerous conflict from escalating into a killing field potentially on the scale that we have seen in Ukraine in the last nearly four years.

    After decades of dispute and violent clashes between Nigeria and Cameroon, often with casualties in the border towns separating both countries, tensions began to boil over, with sections of Nigeria calling for an outright war. A war between countries would have had dire consequences for the subregion, yet some interests motivated by ego pressed Nigeria to go to war.

    Warring neighbours

    Nigeria took the matter to the International Court of Justice, ICJ. When President Olusegun Obasanjo received information that it would not go well, he braced himself and rallied the public through the media to prepare for the outcome. After the ICJ ruled against Nigeria, some circles favoured ignoring the court and going to war for the sake of the Nigerians rooted in Bakassi, and yes, also for the rich mineral deposits there.

    To his credit, Obasanjo resisted the pressure to go to war. With a heavy heart, Nigeria cut its losses and turned the chapter on Bakassi, a strip of land which, even if it had won in a battle, might still have been lost in years of endless conflict.

    Sudan, one of Africa’s most resource-rich countries, offers a different but valuable example, which litters the continent, of how winning political freedom or winning the battle may not always result in winning peace and prosperity.

    Like Putin like al-Bashir?

    As dictators go, there’s probably little to separate Omar al-Bashir and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But unlike al-Bashir, who only yielded to a referendum for the secession of South Sudan at gunpoint, Putin has not asked Zelenskyy to return Ukraine to the former Soviet Union – the game that the Sudanese leaders have tried to play by frustrating South Sudan’s production in the oil-rich region of Abyei. Both countries have managed a complicated and fractious co-existence, bringing relative stability to the region.

    Whether in Nigeria, Sudan, or the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Africa has had many devastating conflicts, with the situation in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo still dire.

    However, compared to its history in the late 1980s and 1990s, the continent has managed relative peace despite internal incompetence and foreign instigations that might have worsened the conflicts. That is what realism teaches.

    Hindsight

    The Russia-Ukraine war might have been prevented if, in line with the assurances from NATO in the 1990s during talks over German reunification, the Ukrainian president had assured Putin of Ukraine’s neutrality.

    That was all Putin asked for: That the US and its allies keep their pledge not to expand eastward or encircle his country. Russia’s pre-emptive seizure of Crimea made it challenging to trust Putin, but Zelenskyy played into his hands by putting all his eggs in the dubious European basket.

    Zelenskyy allowed Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and other NATO leaders in the West to deceive him into believing he would get a carte blanche in the war against Russia. Carte blanches only exist in movies.

    African lessons and the Ukraine war bill

    Africa’s experience teaches a different, nuanced lesson. From the betrayals of Haile Selassie during Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia to the murder of Patrice Lumumba of Congo, the continent learnt the hard way that only fools test the depth of a river with both feet. Unlike his predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, Zelenskyy was just the fool the West needed.

    What has been the cost of the war with Russia? Estimates suggest that about 400,000 Ukrainians, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in the war, including 12,605 verified civilian deaths reported by the UN.

    Also, in contrast to about 450 square kilometres of area captured by Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region, Russia controls 19 percent (or 43,749 square miles) of Ukrainian territory, roughly the size of the US state of Virginia. Yet, the future is still dire.

    Something must give

    Putin’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine and his smash-and-grab are just as detestable as Trump’s pettiness and flippancy. But as petty and detestable as Trump is, he was on point that it would be foolhardy to expect the current war to end without Ukraine giving up anything. Zelenskyy and his backers in Europe must agree that something has to give, and the earlier, the better.

    Unlike Africa, which was partitioned by foreign conquest, Europeans have often redrawn the European map by treaty, war, or conquest. Zelenskyy and his backers may kick the can down the road, but that redrawing is about to happen again. Hopefully, Crimea and Eastern Donbas will not be to Ukraine as Alsace and Lorraine were to Germany after World War I, with severe consequences for long-term peace and stability.

    The bitter truth, however, is that for this war to end, Zelenskyy must accept that Ukraine will never be the same again. This is the consequence of the comedian’s tragic act.

  • Trump suspends aid to Ukraine after clash with Zelensky

    Trump suspends aid to Ukraine after clash with Zelensky

    US President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine on Monday, a White House official said, sharply escalating pressure on Kyiv to agree to peace negotiations with Russia.

    The move comes just days after a stunning public clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, who is seeking a rapid end to the war.

    Trump earlier on Monday had declined to rule out a pause when quizzed by reporters, but any disruption in the flow of US arms to the front line would rapidly weaken Ukraine’s chance of beating back Russia’s invasion.

    “The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well,” a White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    “We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” the official added.

    Congressional Democrats immediately condemned the pause as dangerous and illegal.

    “My Republican colleagues who have called Putin a war criminal and promised their continued support to Ukraine must join me in demanding President Trump immediately lift this disastrous and unlawful freeze,” said Gregory Meeks, top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

    Trump also warned he would “not put up” much longer with Zelensky’s defiance, and said Ukraine’s leader should be “more appreciative” of US support.

    Speaking at the White House, Trump said Zelensky “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.

    The pause has gone into effect immediately and impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.

    Zelensky for his part said Monday he was seeking for the war to end “as soon as possible.”

    The comment came after Zelensky accused Russia — which invaded Ukraine in 2014 and greatly expanded the conflict in 2022 — of not being serious about peace.

    He insisted tough security guarantees were the only way to end the war.

    But Trump’s stance has upended US support for Ukraine, and Washington’s allies more broadly, and stoked concern about Washington pivoting to Russia.

    – European support –

    After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure” — potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.

    Zelensky said discussions were still focusing on the “first steps,” adding: “An agreement on ending the war is very, very far away” — a comment that angered Trump.

    Zelensky added in a video statement that “real, honest peace” would only come with security guarantees for Ukraine, which agreed to denuclearize in 1994 only in exchange for protection provided by the United States and Britain.

    “It was the lack of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago that allowed Russia to start with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, then the lack of security guarantees allowed Russia to launch a full-scale invasion,” Zelensky said.

    Russia dismissed the comments, accusing him of not wanting peace — echoing US criticism after he was shouted down Friday in the Oval Office.

    On the ground, Ukrainian officials reported fatalities from a Russian missile strike on a military training facility some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the front line.

    A respected military blogger said between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed and 90 more wounded in the attack near Dnipro on Saturday.

    – ‘Deliberate’ escalation? –

    Trump has previously called Zelensky, president since 2019, a “dictator” for not holding elections, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war.

    Zelensky dismissed calls for him to resign, repeating his pledge to do so only if Ukraine were given NATO membership, which Russia — and now the United States under Trump — opposes.

    In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Zelensky for Friday’s blow-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying he “demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic abilities.”

    “He doesn’t want peace,” Peskov told reporters.

    On Monday Vance told broadcaster Fox News he was confident Zelensky would “eventually” agree to peace talks with Moscow.

    “I think Zelensky wasn’t yet there, and I think, frankly, now still isn’t there,” Vance said. “But I think he’ll get there eventually. He has to.”

    But Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the astonishing White House clash was a “deliberate escalation” by Trump.

    US and Russian officials have held talks on ending the war, enraging Kyiv and Europe for being sidelined, and prompting fears that any deal could threaten Ukraine’s future.

  • Zelensky says ‘will not be simple’ to replace him as Ukraine leader

    Zelensky says ‘will not be simple’ to replace him as Ukraine leader

    Volodymyr Zelensky told British media Sunday it would not be easy to replace him as Ukraine’s president, but repeated his offer to step down in exchange for NATO membership for his war-torn country.

    US Republicans had suggested he may have to resign after US President Donald Trump dramatically turned against him during a contentious Oval Office meeting about the war with Russia on Friday.

    “If they replace me, given what is going on, given the support, simply replacing me will not be simple,” Zelensky told British media.

    “It’s not enough to just hold an election. You need to also not let me run. This will be a bit more difficult. Looks like you will have to negotiate with me,” he added.

    “And I said that I am exchanging for NATO. Then I fulfilled my mission.”

    The unprecedented public spat at the Oval Office resulted in Zelensky leaving the White House without the anticipated signing of a preliminary pact on sharing Ukrainian mineral rights.

    While European leaders rallied around Ukraine, Republican officials appeared Sunday on news programs questioning whether any deal could be reached with Russia so long as Zelensky remains.

    “We need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end this war,” National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told CNN.

    “And if it becomes apparent that President Zelensky’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in this country, then I think we have a real issue.”

    Republican Mike Johnson, speaker of the House of Representatives, also questioned whether Zelensky was fit for the job.

    “Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country.”

    Senior Democrats have angrily pushed back since the debacle Friday, saying Trump has come dangerously close to an all-out embrace of Russia.

    Zelensky has been calling for Ukraine to be given NATO membership as part of any deal to end the war, but the Washington-led alliance has been reluctant to pledge.

    Trump said in February that Ukraine can “forget about” joining NATO in any settlement, explaining: “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”

    Russia cited potential Ukrainian membership in NATO as a reason for its invasion three years ago.

  • European allies rally behind Zelensky after White House clash

    European allies rally behind Zelensky after White House clash

    Ukraine’s European allies, set to gather in London on Sunday, rallied behind President Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump threw him out of the White House and accused him of not being “ready” for peace with Russia.

    Stunned by Friday’s altercation in the Oval Office, which saw Zelensky depart the White House without signing an expected mineral deal, most European leaders rushed to his defence.

    “You are not alone,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fresh off his own visit to the White House, said he had spoken to both Trump and Zelensky following the clash and vowed “unwavering support” for Kyiv.

    Representatives from more than a dozen European countries will convene in London for a summit on Sunday, which according to Downing Street will focus on shoring up support for “securing a just and enduring peace” in Ukraine.

    The gathering will also address the need for Europe to increase defence cooperation amid fears over whether the United States will continue to support NATO.

    French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to “open the discussion” on a possible future European nuclear deterrent, following a request from Germany’s next leader Friedrich Merz.

    Merz has stressed the need for the continent to move quickly to “achieve independence” from the United States on defence matters.

    Trump has spoken dismissively of the transatlantic alliance and stunned many in Europe when he reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a deal on Ukraine, which Moscow invaded three years ago.

    – Shouting match –

    Trump’s sudden shift on Ukraine, sidelining Kyiv and Europe while pursuing reproachment with Putin, has rattled the NATO allies.

    Those concerns were only exacerbated Friday by the scene that played out in the White House where the years-long US policy of massive support for Ukraine collapsed in a shouting match.

    During the clash, in front of US and international media, Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelensky, accusing him of not being “thankful” and refusing to accept their proposed truce terms.

    “You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump said. “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty”.

    Zelensky departed shortly after, with Trump posting on social media that “he can come back when he is ready for peace”.

    US media reported that Zelensky had been told to leave by senior Trump officials.

    The US president later told journalists that Zelensky was “overplaying his hand” and should agree to end fighting “immediately”.

    Zelensky refused to apologize, telling Fox News, “I’m not sure that we did something bad”. He did, however, say he wished the exchange had not taken place in front of reporters.

    Russia, however, was delighted.

    Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called Zelensky an “insolent pig” who had received “a proper slap down in the Oval Office.”

    Trump’s Republican Party echoed the Russians in blaming Zelensky.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Zelensky to “apologize for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did”.

    Top US Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer meanwhile said Trump and Vance were “doing Putin’s dirty work”.

    – Compromise with ‘killer’? –

    The meltdown came after Trump said Ukraine would have to make “compromises” in a truce with Russia, which has occupied swaths of the country.

    Zelensky said there should be “no compromises with a killer on our territory”.

    After he pointed out that previous Western-backed peace efforts had failed to deter Russian aggression, Vance interrupted and called him “disrespectful”.

    The session then boiled over into Trump and Vance loudly berating the Ukrainian leader. He sat in evident discomfort as his hosts talked over him.

    Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky and refusing to condemn the Russian invasion.

    He said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin — more than has been publicly reported.

    Trump called Zelensky a “dictator” last week and has said he trusts Putin to “keep his word” over a ceasefire.

    Trump told Zelensky that as a mediator he could not criticise one of the main sides.

    When asked by Fox News if the relationship with Trump could be salvaged, Zelensky said “Of course”.

    But he also said he wished Trump was “really more on our side”.

    Meanwhile, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued.
    Russian infantry were storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.

  • Trump blasts Zelensky as ‘disrespectful’ after heated exchange at White House

    Trump blasts Zelensky as ‘disrespectful’ after heated exchange at White House

    US President Donald Trump cut short a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and said the Ukrainian leader is “not ready” for peace with Russia in an extraordinary meltdown in the Oval Office that threw question marks over chances for a truce.

    Zelensky was meant to be making a full White House visit to sign a US-Ukrainian deal for joint exploitation of Ukraine’s mineral resources, as part of a post-war recovery in a US-brokered peace deal.

    Instead, an ugly clash blew up almost immediately in the Oval Office where Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelensky, accusing him of not being thankful for US help in the three-year war against Russian invasion.

    Trump berated Zelensky, telling him to be more “thankful” and that without US assistance Ukraine would have been conquered by Russia.

    “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” Trump added. “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”

    Zelensky left in his motorcade shortly after, without holding a planned joint press conference.The resources deal was left unsigned, the White House said

    Trump took to his Truth Social platform to castigate Zelensky saying “he disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.”

    Zelensky is “not ready for Peace,” Trump wrote. “He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

    Compromise row

    The extraordinary meltdown came after Trump said Ukraine will have to make “compromises” in a truce with Russia, which has occupied swaths of Ukraine, destroying entire cities and towns along the way.

    “You can’t do any deals without compromises. So certainly he’s going to have to make some compromises, but hopefully they won’t be as big as some people think,” Trump said.

    But showing Trump pictures of war atrocities and referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said there should be “no compromises with a killer on our territory.”

    Related News

    “Crazy Russians,” he said, deported Ukrainian children and committed war crimes during their three-year invasion of his country.

    The dramatic public breakdown in the long-tense relationship between Zelensky and Trump came after their meeting — in front of a large group of journalists — had appeared to get off to a friendlier start.

    Zelensky had said, “I think President Trump is on our side.”

    Truce talks in doubt

    The clash left in doubt efforts led by Trump to cast himself as a mediator in the war.

    The leaders of France and Britain also came to the White House this week, seeking to persuade Trump not to take the Russian line and to bolster US support for Ukraine in a future truce.

    After the drama in the White House, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Zelensky: “You are not alone.”

    Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, ending what had been full-throated support for Ukraine’s attempt to defeat the Russian invasion and casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky.

    Trump said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin — more than has been publicly reported beyond the lengthy call between the two leaders earlier this February.

    Speaking before the shouting match erupted, Trump told Zelensky that a truce is “fairly close.”

    The US leader also said that the proposed minerals deal would be “very fair.”

    The proposal was to give Washington financial benefits for helping Ukraine in a truce, even if Trump has repeatedly refused to commit any US military force as a back-up to European troops who might act as peacekeepers.

    Dictator without elections’ –

    The clash came after Trump has flip-flopped in his tone on Zelensky.

    Trump called him a “dictator” last week and has repeatedly blamed Ukraine for Russia’s February 2022 invasion and echoed a series of Kremlin talking points about how the war started.

    But on Thursday, Trump said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “I have a lot of respect for him.”

    “We’re going to get along well,” he said.

    Trump, who has repeatedly expressed admiration for Putin, said this week he trusts Putin to “keep his word” on any ceasefire.

    Senate Democrats accused Trump and Vance of siding with Putin.

    They are “doing Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media.

    “Disgraceful,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen.

    As tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued.

    Russian infantry were on Friday storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.

  • Trump voices respect for Zelensky, downplays ‘dictator’ jibe

    Trump voices respect for Zelensky, downplays ‘dictator’ jibe

    US President Donald Trump on Thursday voiced respect for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the eve of his visit, downplaying an earlier jibe that he was a “dictator.”

    “I think we’re going to have a very good meeting tomorrow morning. We’re going to get along really well,” Trump said.

    “I have a lot of respect for him,” Trump said of Zelensky at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

    Trump has long criticized the billions in military and other aid Washington has given Ukraine, but took a different tone ahead of a meeting in which the two countries are expected to sign a deal on mining rights.

    The deal, pushed by Trump as a form of compensation for Washington’s backing, would give the United States a share in much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.

    “We’ve given him a lot of equipment and a lot of money, but they have fought very bravely,” Trump said.

    “Somebody has to use that equipment, and they have been very brave in that sense.”

    Trump stunned many European allies earlier in February by speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.

    After critical remarks by Zelensky, Trump called the elected Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”

    “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” Trump responded when asked by journalists about his comment made this month in a post on his Truth Social platform.

  • Zelensky says Trump living in Russian ‘disinformation space’

    Zelensky says Trump living in Russian ‘disinformation space’

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said Donald Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation space”, responding to scathing comments by the US president that  Zelensky’s popularity rating is four percent.

    “Unfortunately, President Trump, who we have great respect for as leader of the American people … lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv, accusing Moscow of misleading Trump.

    Calling for presidential elections in Ukraine, which are banned under martial law, Trump said Tuesday of Zelensky: “He’s down at four percent approval rating”,

    Zelensky said the figure “comes from Russia”.

    A telephone poll of 1,000 people by the respected Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published Wednesday, found that 57 percent of respondents trusted Zelensky, while 37 percent said they did not and the rest were undecided.

    Trump’s comments came after the US and Russian foreign ministers held talks in Saudi Arabia — their first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 — on resetting relations and finding a way to end the conflict.

    Kyiv and its European allies have become alarmed at being cut out of the process with Russia to end the conflict.