Zelensky to meet US envoy after Trump brands him a 'dictator'

This combination of pictures created on February 19, 2025 shows, L-R, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels on December 19, 2024 and US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on February 10, 2025. [AFP] Volodymyr Zelensky was due to meet on Thursday with US envoy Keith Kellogg after Donald Trump branded the Ukrainian leader a "dictator" and said Russia "have the cards" in any talks to end the war. The United States has provided essential funding and arms to Ukraine, but the US president has rattled Kyiv and its European backers by opening talks with Moscow they fear could end the war on terms unacceptable to them. "I think the Russians want to see the war end... But I think they have the cards a little bit, because they've taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards," Trump told reporters late Wednesday. Under former President Joe Biden, the United States lauded Zelensky as a hero and hammered Moscow with sanctions as Ukraine battled against advancing Russian troops. But Trump has been critical of Zelensky, claiming he has subverted democracy and blaming him for starting the war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago. "A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term and has remained leader under martial law imposed as his country fights for its survival. Trump savaged Zelensky, saying "he refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing (Joe) Biden 'like a fiddle.'" "In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only 'TRUMP,' and the Trump Administration, can do." Zelensky's popularity has fallen, but the percentage of Ukrainians who trust him has never dipped below 50 percent since the conflict started, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Shock at Trump attack Trump's invective drew shock from Europe where German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was "wrong and dangerous" to call Zelensky a dictator. In Washington, Trump's former vice president Mike Pence also issued a stinging rebuke. "Mr. President, Ukraine did not 'start' this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives," he wrote on X. "Ukraine is a democracy, (President Vladimir) Putin's Russia is not," European Union spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said. In contrast, the Kremlin hailed Trump's comments. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it "absolutely" agreed with Trump after he urged Zelensky to "move fast" to end the conflict. Both sides are trying to improve their situation on the battlefield amid Trump's push for a ceasefire. Moscow buoyed Moscow has been buoyed by Tuesday's talks in Saudi Arabia and Trump's attacks on Zelensky. The talks "made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests," Putin told journalists. Kyiv was not invited to the Riyadh talks as Moscow and Washington moved to sideline both Ukraine and Europe. Putin said US allies "only have themselves to blame for what's happening," suggesting they were paying the price for opposing Trump's return to the White House. Tensions between Zelensky and Trump over the new US position on the war had been building for weeks. But Zelensky struck a more positive tone ahead of Thursday's meeting with Kellogg, saying "it is very important for us that the meeting and our work with America in general be constructive." "Together with America and Europe, peace can be more reliable, and this is our goal," he added. Russia, which for years has railed against the US military presence in Europe, wants a reorganisation of the continent's security framework as part of any deal to end the Ukraine fighting. Putin on Wednesday said that Russia and the United States needed to work with each other if talks were to be successful. "It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States," he said.

Zelensky to meet US envoy after Trump brands him a 'dictator'

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Zelensky to meet US envoy after Trump brands him a 'dictator'

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