Kiiv, Ukraine-A press conference that was planned to follow the conversations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian envoy of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, was canceled on Thursday as political tensions deepened between the Two countries on how to finish the war of almost three years with Russia.
Originally, the event was supposed to include comments to the media for Zelenskyy and the US Lieutenant. Uu. Keith Kellogg, but changed at the last minute to a simple photography opportunity where the two posed for journalists. They did not deliver statements or field questions as expected. The change was requested by the American side, said Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov.
Kellogg’s trip to kyiv coincided with the recent fight between Trump and Zelenskyy that has bruit his personal relationships and has put more doubts about the future of the United States’s support to the war effort of Ukraine.
Dozens of journalists gathered at the Ukraine presidential office in kyiv after being invited to take photos and observe a press conference with Zelenskyy and Kellogg. When the meeting began, photographers and video journalists were allowed to enter a room where the two men gave their hands before sitting together at a table.
Then the journalists were informed that there would be no press conference with comments from the leaders or questions of the journalists. Nikiforov did not give any reason for the sudden change, except to say that I agreed with the wishes of us.
The US delegation did not make immediate comments. The White House did not immediately answer the questions about why the press conference was canceled.
The two men had to talk about Trump’s efforts to end war. Zelenskyy had said previously that he expected to explain what was happening in Ukraine and show it to Kellogg.
Kellogg, one of the architects of a firmly conservative policy book that exposes a “America First” national security agenda, has long been the main Trump advisor on defense issues.
Writing on his telegram channel, Zelenskyy said the meeting with Kellogg was a “good conversation, many details.” He said they discussed the security guarantees for Ukraine and the return of Ukrainian prisoners of Russian custody.
“We can and must make peace reliable and lasting so that Russia can never return with war,” he wrote. “Ukraine is ready for a solid and truly beneficial agreement with the president of the United States on investments and security.”
Zelenskyy and Trump have changed Reprends in recent days.
The dispute exploded after Russia and the United States agreed on Tuesday to start working to finish the war in Ukraine and improve their diplomatic and economic ties. With that, Trump abruptly reversed the three -year American politics of isolating Russia.
Zelenskyy was not happy for an American team to open the conversations without inviting him or the European governments that have backed kyiv.
When Trump said Zelenskyy was deeply unpopular in Ukraine, the president said Trump lived in a “misinformation space” made in Russian, suggesting that Putin had cheated him.
But Zelenskyy “retains a fairly high level of public confidence”, around 57 percent, according to a report published Wednesday by the International Institute of Sociology of kyiv.
Trump accused Zelenskyy of being “a dictator without choices!” Due to the war, Ukraine delayed the elections that were scheduled for April 2024.
Trump also suggested that Ukraine was to blame for war.
The Russian Army crossed the border on February 24, 2022, in a total invasion that Putin sought to justify falsely saying that it was necessary to protect Russian -speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.
On Wednesday, Trump warned Zelenskyy to “move better” to negotiate the end of the invasion of Russia of Ukraine or risk not having a nation to lead.
European leaders quickly presented their support behind Zelenskyy.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country has been kyiv’s second largest arms supplier after the United States, said it was “incorrect and dangerous” to deny Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy.
Ukraine has been defending for almost three years against a war of ruthless aggression, day after day, ”Scholz told Der Spiegel communication.
The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, spoke with Zelenskyy on Wednesday and expressed his support for him “as the democratically chosen leader of Ukraine,” said Starmer’s office, and added that it was “perfectly reasonable” to postpone the elections during the time of war.
Russian officials, meanwhile, are enjoying Washington’s attention and offering words of support to Trump’s position.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “Zelenskyy’s rhetoric and many representatives of the kyiv regime in general leaves much to be desired”, a veiled reference to Ukrainian criticisms of Putin.
“The representatives of the Ukrainian regime, especially in recent months, are often allowed to make statements about the heads of other states that are completely unacceptable,” Peskov said at a telephone conference with journalists.
Amid the diplomatic clamor, Ukrainian civilians continue to support Russian strikes. Russia fired 161 Shahed and lure drones and up to 14 missiles of various types in Ukraine during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, according to military authorities.
A Russian sliding bomb hit a block of apartments in the southern city of Kherson on Wednesday night, killing a person and wounding six, including 14 -year -old twins, authorities said.
The Port City of southern Odeesa was also under a Russian drone attack for the second consecutive night, leaving almost 50,000 homes without electricity in the freezing of winter temperatures, authorities said.
