US-Ukraine Tensions Escalate As Zelenskyy-Trump Envoy's Planned News Conference Cancelled

Kyiv: Tensions between the United States and Ukraine escalated on Thursday as a planned press conference between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump 's Ukraine envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, was abruptly cancelled. Initially scheduled to include comments from Zelenskyy and Kellogg, the event was reduced to a brief photo opportunity, leaving dozens of journalists gathered at Ukraine's presidential office in Kyiv without a statement or a chance to ask questions. According to Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov, the change was requested by the US side.

The cancellation comes amid a recent feud between Trump and Zelenskyy, which has strained their personal relations and cast doubt on the future of US support for Ukraine's war effort. The spat erupted after Russia and the US agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties.

Verbal Comments Spark Outrage

Donald Trump's recent comments about Zelenskyy have sparked outrage, with the Ukrainian president accusing Trump of living in a "Russian-made disinformation space”. Trump claimed Zelenskyy was deeply unpopular in Ukraine, but a report by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that Zelenskyy retains a fairly high level of public trust, with about 57 percent of Ukrainians supporting him.

European leaders have quickly thrown their support behind Zelenskyy, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz calling Trump's comments "wrong and dangerous”. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also expressed support for Zelenskyy, saying it was "perfectly reasonable" to postpone elections during wartime.

Trump Called Zelenskyy, ‘A Dictator’

Hitting out Zelenskyy, Trump called his Ukrainian counterpart a “dictator” as the rift between them deepened over Ukraine peace negotiations. Trump’s broadside against Zelenskyy came after the Ukrainian President challenged his claims that Ukraine had started the war. Trump also attacked the Ukrainian leader, accusing him of taking US money and embroiling the country in an endless conflict with Russia. Zelenskyy had also spoken against being left out of the Russia-US talks held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday.

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote that Zelenskyy, a “moderately successful comedian”, has “talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start”.

Talking about the funding disbursed to Ukraine, he added, “The United States has spent $200 billion Dollars more than Europe.” Trump added that Zelenskyy “refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle'”. He said Zelenskyy had done a “terrible job” as the leader of Ukraine, deeming him “A Dictator without Elections”.

Russian Officials Weigh In

Russian officials, meanwhile, have welcomed Washington's attention, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that Zelenskyy's rhetoric "leaves much to be desired”.

As the diplomatic row continues, Ukrainian civilians are bearing the brunt of Russian strikes. Russia fired 161 Shahed and decoy drones and up to 14 missiles of various types at Ukraine overnight, according to military authorities.