U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for the conflict in Ukraine met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Thursday but there was no immediate word on whether their talks had helped smooth over an unprecedented wartime rift between the once firm allies.
Zelenskiy had earlier struck a conciliatory tone after accusing Trump of repeating Russian disinformation in response to the U.S. president’s accusation that Ukraine had started the three-year-old war with Russia. Trump went on to refer to Zelenskiy as a “dictator” who should act fast or lose Ukraine.
Trump, in office for just a month, is pushing for a quick deal to end the war and has alarmed Washington’s European allies by leaving them and Ukraine out of initial talks with Russia.
His vice president, JD Vance, said on Thursday he believed that an end to the conflict was near and there was no stopping the war without speaking to Russia.
Trump’s Ukraine and Russia envoy Keith Kellogg said on arriving in Kyiv on Wednesday that he was there to listen.
The two men shook hands and patted each other on the backs as they met on Thursday. Zelenskiy smiled and said: “It’s good to see you, how are you? … thank you for coming.”
There was no immediate word from either side on the outcome of the talks.
Trump is seeking to reestablish ties with Russia and also invest in Ukraine’s resources of minerals critical to the energy transition. Ukraine rejected an initial U.S. plan as it did not include security guarantees.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Thursday that Ukraine should rein in its criticism of the United States and agree to the minerals deal.
“They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal,” he told Fox News.
SECURITY GUARANTEES
European leaders have responded to Trump’s apparent about-turn on Ukraine by pledging to step up spending on defence and some are considering a U.S.-backed European peacekeeping force for the country. The Kremlin says the plan is a major cause for concern but Zelenskiy and NATO have welcomed it.
“It is vital that … Russia will never again try to take one more square kilometre of Ukrainian land,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said, adding that this would entail robust security guarantees.
Read More: Trump tells ‘dictator’ Zelenskiy to move fast for peace or lose Ukraine
“While there is much that still needs to be decided, there is no question that Europe has a vital role to play in securing peace in Ukraine,” he told reporters in Bratislava.
Zelenskiy told Ukrainians on Wednesday evening that it was crucial that his meeting with Kellogg, and cooperation with Washington in general, were “constructive”.
“We are standing strong on our own two feet. I am counting on Ukrainian unity, our courage … on the unity of Europe and the pragmatism of America,” Zelenskiy said in a video address.
“Because America needs success just as much as we do,” he added.
Two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday that the Trump administration may seek to strike a simplified minerals deal and later negotiate detailed terms.
Russian forces have laid Ukrainian cities, towns and villages to waste and are edging forward along parts of the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line across eastern and southern Ukraine. Moscow controls a fifth of Ukraine and claims ownership of more.
Ukrainian officials say a ceasefire would just give Russia time to prepare for further aggression. However, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence agency said on Thursday there could be a ceasefire this year, while casting doubt on its durability.
UKRAINIANS RALLY ROUND
At the centre of Trump’s charge that Zelenskiy is a dictator is that Ukraine has not held elections because of martial law, which it declared when Russia unleashed its invasion on February 24, 2022.
Martial law, which provides authorities with emergency powers for the war effort, prohibits holding elections. Zelenskiy won office in 2019 and his mandate would normally have ended last May.
Trump’s comments spurred some, though not all, of Ukraine’s opposition figures to rally around Zelenskiy.
Ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Zelenskiy was Ukraine’s legitimate leader until someone else was elected, and that it was “impossible and immoral” to hold elections during the war, as the military would not be able to take part.
“Only Ukrainians have the right to decide when and under what conditions they should change their government. Today, there are no such conditions!” she wrote on Facebook.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the ex-army chief who is Ukraine’s ambassador to London and whose popularity makes him a possible presidential candidate, said winning the war with Russia to preserve Ukraine, not elections, was the priority.
The most prominent opposition figure who has not pushed back on Trump’s latest election call is Petro Poroshenko, the former president whose relations with Zelenskiy are acrimonious.
Poroshenko previously opposed calls for wartime elections in the name of national unity but remained silent this time after the government imposed sanctions on him last week, something he said was a blow to unity.
Iryna Herashchenko, a lawmaker for Poroshenko’s party, has been calling for a government of national unity and urged Zelenskiy to stop what she called “political repression against those he does not like”.
Serhii Prytula, who runs a major charity supporting the Ukrainian army and is another possible presidential hopeful, advised Ukrainians on X not to read Trump’s comments before bed.
“Remember that here in Ukraine, only we – the people of Ukraine – determine who is a dictator and who is not.”