Zelensky-Trump Ukraine envoy news conference cancelled over tensions
Writing on his Telegram channel, Zelensky said the meeting with Kellogg was a “good conversation, lots of details.” He said they discussed security guarantees for Ukraine and the return of Ukrainian prisoners from Russian custody.
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“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.”
Zelensky and Trump have traded rebukes in recent days.
The spat erupted after Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties. With that, Trump abruptly reversed the three-year U.S. policy of isolating Russia.
Zelensky was unhappy that a US team opened the talks without inviting him or European governments that have backed Kyiv.
When Trump claimed Zelensky was deeply unpopular in Ukraine, the president said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space,” suggesting he had been duped by Putin.
But Zelensky “retains a fairly high level of public trust” — about 57 per cent — according to a report released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
In a related development, the US is refusing to co-sponsor a draft UN resolution marking three years since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that backs Kyiv’s territorial integrity and again demands Russia withdraw its troops, three diplomatic sources told Reuters, in a potential stark shift by Ukraine’s most powerful Western ally.
Countries can decide to co-sponsor a resolution up until a vote. The 193-member General Assembly is due to vote on Monday, said diplomats. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war.
“In previous years, the United States has consistently co-sponsored such resolutions in support of a just peace in Ukraine,” one of the sources, who like the others requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said on Thursday.
AP, Reuters
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