Previously, a war of words broke out between Trump and Zelenskyy after Russia and the US agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine.
Amidst US President Donald Trump openly criticising his Ukrainian counterpart and referring to him as a “dictator without elections,” a rare praise for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has come from the US side. Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has struck a positive tone, praising the Ukrainian leader as an “embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war.
What do Kellogg’s comment suggest?
Notably, Kellogg, who travelled to Kyiv on Wednesday, had plans to conduct a news conference with Zelenskyy on Thursday, and it was changed at the last minute to a simple photo opportunity. Kellogg’s comments are seen as a departure from recent rebukes of Zelenskyy by Trump and other senior US officials that appeared to indicate an abrupt deterioration of relations.
Earlier, while referring to Zelenskyy as a “dictator,” Trump had warned him that he’d “ better move fast ” to negotiate an end to the war or risk not having a nation to lead. The war of words between Trump and Zelenskyy began after Russia and the US agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties. Notably, the meeting between the US and Russian delegations took place in Saudi Arabia.
Things changed with a Trump-Putin phone call
With that, and a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump abruptly reversed the three-year US policy of isolating Russia.
Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said during a White House briefing on Thursday that the US president is “obviously very frustrated” with Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy was unhappy that a US team opened the talks without inviting him or European governments that have backed Kyiv.
When Trump claimed without evidence that Zelenskyy was deeply unpopular in Ukraine and falsely suggested that Ukraine was to blame for the war, Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space,” suggesting he had been duped by Putin.
(With inputs from AP)
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