On Thursday, the 20th of February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged that Ukraine is ready to work quickly to reach a strong agreement with the US on investment and security, saying a meeting with US envoy Keith Kellogg “renews hope” for success, however, it was not immediately reported whether the talks had helped mend unprecedented wartime rifts between the once close allies, with key US officials indicating that serious differences remained, according to Reuters.
A day earlier, Zelenskyy accused Trump of repeating Russian disinformation in response to the US president’s accusations that Ukraine had started a war with Russia. Trump went on to call Zelenskyy a “dictator” who should act quickly or lose his country.
Trump, who has only been in office for a month, is pushing for a quick agreement to end the war and has alarmed Washington’s allies in Europe by leaving them and Ukraine out of the initial talks with Russia.
His deputy JD Vance said on Thursday that he believed the end of the conflict was near.
Meanwhile, US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said that Zelenskyy’s accusations were unacceptable and that the Ukrainian President should return to the negotiating table and discuss a previously proposed deal that would allow the US access to Ukrainian rare earth.
“General Kellogg – a meeting that restores hope. We need strong agreements that will actually work. I instructed to work quickly and very, very fairly,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
AFTER HIS MEETING WITH KELLOGG, ZELENSKY SAID ON X THAT UKRAINE MUST “ENSURE THAT PEACE IS STRONG AND LASTING –THAT RUSSIA CAN NEVER COME BACK WITH WAR”.
“Ukraine is ready to reach a strong, effective investment and security agreement with the US President. We have proposed the quickest and most constructive way to achieve results. Our team is ready to work 24/7.”
Trump is seeking to rebuild relations with Russia and also to invest in Ukraine’s mineral resources, which are crucial for the energy transition. The talks with Kellogg also came after Ukraine rejected the original US plan because it did not include security guarantees.
A possible meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “will depend in large part on whether we can make progress on ending the war in Ukraine”, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
In his comments on X, Zelenskyy also said that his discussion with Kellogg focused on the situation on the battlefield, the security guarantees Ukraine wants and the return of prisoners of war. However, little additional information was available, and the planned joint press conference was cancelled at the request of the US, Zelenskyy’s office said.
Trump has also denounced Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”. Zelenskyy’s five-year term was supposed to expire in 2024, but elections cannot be held because of martial law, which Kiyv imposed in February 2022 in response to the Russian invasion.
European leaders have reacted to Trump’s stance on Ukraine by pledging to increase defence spending, and some are considering a US-backed European peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON SAID ON THURSDAY THAT UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY IS A “LEGITIMATE” LEADER AND THAT, UNLIKE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, HE CAME TO OFFICE AS A RESULT OF FREE ELECTIONS.
Macron is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday and said in a Q&A session published on social media that he would tell Trump not to be “weak” on Putin.
Trump’s comments also prompted some members of the Ukrainian opposition to support Zelenskyy.
Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said that Zelenskyy is the legitimate leader of Ukraine until someone else is elected and that holding elections in a time of war is “impossible and immoral”. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, former army chief and possible presidential candidate, stressed that the priority now is to end the war, not to hold elections.
The most prominent opposition figure who has not rejected Trump’s latest call for elections is former President Petro Poroshenko, whose relations with Zelenski have soured. Meanwhile, Iryna Herashchenko of Poroshenko’s party called for a national unity government and accused Zelenskyy of “political repression”.