President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for the Ukraine conflict met in Kyiv on Thursday.
There was not an immediate sign that the talks had succeeded in resolving an unprecedented wartime disagreement.
In response to Trump’s accusation that Ukraine started the war with Russia, Zelenskiy had earlier taken a conciliatory tone by accusing Trump of repeating Russian disinformation. After that, Trump called Zelenskiy a “dictator” who needs to take immediate action or face the loss of his country.
Trump, who has been in office for one month, excluded Ukraine and Washington’s European allies from the first phase of negotiations with Russia in his haste to end the war.
JD Vance, his vice president, said on Thursday that he was of the belief that an end to the conflict was imminent and that the war could not be stopped without engaging in negotiations with Russia.
During a press briefing at the White House, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said that Zelenskiy’s insults were unacceptable and that the Ukrainian president should return to the negotiating table to discuss a previously proposed deal that would grant the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.
Keith Kellogg, the envoy of the US to Ukraine and Russia, arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Zelenskiy wrote on X after their meeting that he and Kellogg discussed the battlefield situation, effective security assurances that would be included in any peace agreement, and prisoners of war in detail.
The U.S. requested the cancellation of the scheduled joint press conference, according to Zelenskiy’s office, and there were only a few more details available.
Trump intends to facilitate the energy transition by investing in Ukraine’s mineral resources and reestablishing diplomatic relations with Russia. The initial U.S. plan was rejected by Ukraine due to its missing security guarantees.
