“DESPISED”
Zelenskyy met this week in Kyiv with Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg whose description of meetings with Ukrainian officials came in stark contrast with rhetoric from his counterparts in Washington.
In a social media post, Kellogg called Zelenskyy “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war”.
But in Washington, there was little sign Trump’s team was looking to dial down tensions.
Trump told Fox News on Friday that “I don’t think he’s very important to be in meetings”, referring to Zelenskyy, adding “he makes it very hard to make deals”.
Tech tycoon and Trump backer Elon Musk weighed in on Thursday, saying Ukrainians “despised” their president and that the US leader was right to leave him out of talks with Russia.
“Some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable,” Waltz said during a briefing at the White House.
In his most pointed criticism yet, Zelenskyy earlier this week said Trump had succumbed to Russian “disinformation” over the US president’s repetition of debunked Kremlin talking points on the conflict.
