A planned news conference between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy was cancelled, as political tensions deepened between the two countries.
The event was originally supposed to include comments to the media by Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy and retired US Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, but it was changed at the last minute to a simple photo opportunity.
Neither side delivered statements or questions from the media.
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The change was requested by the US side, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov said.
Mr Zelenskyy wrote on X that he had a detailed and productive conversation with Lt Gen Kellogg about prisoners of war, effective security guarantees that would be part of any peace agreement and the battlefield situation.
He later said the meeting “restores hope” but there were few additional details from the US side.
Lt Gen Kellogg’s trip to Kyiv coincided with recent feuding between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy that has cast further doubt on the future of US support for Ukraine’s war effort.
During a White House briefing on Thursday, national security adviser Mike Waltz said “some of the rhetoric” coming out of Kyiv and “insults to US President Donald Trump were unacceptable”.
His comments were in response to Mr Zelenskyy accusing his US counterpart of living in a “disinformation bubble” after Mr Trump blamed Ukraine for the war.
The US leader responded furiously, labelling the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections”.
When asked if Mr Trump blames Russia or Ukraine for the war – which was launched by Moscow in February 2022 – Mr Waltz would not give a direct answer.
Instead, he said Mr Trump is “obviously very frustrated” with the Ukrainian leader.
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“Well, look, his goal here is to bring this war to an end, period,” he said, referring to Mr Trump.
“And there has been ongoing fighting on both sides. It is World War One style trench warfare.”
He went on to insist Mr Trump is the best person to negotiate with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, despite concerns the US will force Ukraine into concessions after kicking off talks this week without Europe or Kyiv.
US vice president JD Vance added that he believed an end to the conflict was near and there was no stopping the war without speaking to Russia.
The US government has previously floated a deal between Ukraine and Russia that would give America access to Ukraine’s minerals resources, but Kyiv rejected the initial plan as it did not include security guarantees.
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Has Russia got an ‘appetite’ for peace?
European leaders, including the UK government, have reacted strongly to the way Mr Trump has begun talks.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK will be a “bridge” between the US and Europe during Ukraine peace negotiations, adding he doubted whether Russia had “an appetite to really get to that peace”.
“That peace could be achieved by leaving Ukraine tomorrow,” he said after a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in South Africa.
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French President Emmanuel Macron, who is due to meet with Mr Trump in Washington on Monday, said he would tell
the president not to be “weak” on Mr Putin.
He also spoke with Mr Zelenskyy to discuss recent diplomatic efforts between European partners and allies, ahead of his visit to the US.
Russian officials, meanwhile, are basking in Washington’s attention and offering words of support in light of Mr Trump’s stance.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “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 Mr Putin.
The divisions between Ukraine and the US come as it nears three years to the day that Russia launched its invasion.
Moscow’s army crossed the border on 24 February 2022, in an all-out invasion that Mr Putin sought to justify by saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.
