KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space,” pointed comments that risk further souring relations with Washington as the American leader pushes for an end to the war.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would like to meet with Trump, a day after senior American and Russian officials held talks that were partially aimed at preparing just such a summit.
Zelenskyy said he “would like Trump’s team to be more truthful” in his first response to a series of striking claims the U.S. president made the previous day, including suggesting that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth year next week.
Russia’s army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by saying it was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO. Ukraine and its allies denounced it as an unprovoked act of aggression.
The comments from Trump and Zelenskyy were a remarkable back-and-forth between leaders of two countries that have been staunch allies in recent years under Trump’s predecessor, as the U.S. provided crucial military equipment to Kyiv to fend off the invasion and used its political weight to defend Ukraine and isolate Russia on the world stage.
The Trump administration has started charting a new course, reaching out to Russia and pushing for a peace deal. Senior officials from both countries held talks on Tuesday to discuss improving ties, negotiating an end to the war and potentially preparing a meeting between Trump and Putin after years of frosty relations.
“I would like to have a meeting, but it needs to be prepared so that it brings results,” Putin said Wednesday in televised remarks. He added that he would be “pleased” to meet Trump but noted that Trump has acknowledged that the Ukrainian settlement could take longer than he had initially hoped.
Zelenskyy's remarks Wednesday came shortly before he was expected to meet with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia as part of the administration's recent diplomatic blitz.
Ukraine and its European supporters have expressed concern that they weren’t invited to the talks between top American and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia — amid larger worries that the deal taking shape could be unfavorable to Kyiv.
At a news conference Tuesday, Trump showed little patience for Ukraine’s objections to being excluded from the talks. He also said, without providing the source, that Zelenskyy’s approval rating stood at 4%, while telling reporters that Ukraine “should have never started” the war and “could have made a deal” to prevent it.
Zelenskyy replied in his own news conference Wednesday that “we have seen this disinformation. We understand that it is coming from Russia.” He said that Trump “lives in this disinformation space.”
Zelenskyy said he hoped Kellogg would walk through Kyiv and “ask (Ukrainians) if they trust their president? Do they trust Putin? Let him ask about Trump, what they think after the statements made by their president."
Russian state TV and other state-controlled media reacted with glee to what they portrayed as Trump’s cold shoulder to Zelenskyy.
“Trump isn’t even trying to hide his irritation with Zelenskyy,” the Rossiya channel said at the top of its newscast.
“Trump steamrolled Zelenskyy for his complaints about the talks with Russia,” the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda said.
Trump also suggested Ukraine ought to hold elections, which have been postponed due to the war and the consequent imposition of martial law, in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution.
Zelenskyy also referred to “the story” that 90% of all aid received by Ukraine comes from the United States.
He said that, for instance, about 34% of all weapons in Ukraine are domestically produced and over 30% of support comes from Europe.
The battlefield has brought more grim news for Ukraine in recent months. A relentless onslaught in eastern areas by Russia's bigger army is grinding down Ukrainian forces, who are slowly but steadily being pushed backward at some points on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.
American officials have signaled that Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO in order to ward off Russian aggression after reaching a possible peace agreement won’t happen. Zelenskyy says any settlement will require U.S. security commitments to keep Russia at bay.
“We understand the need for security guarantees,” Kellogg said in comments carried by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Novyny on his arrival at Kyiv's train station.
“It’s very clear to us the importance of the sovereignty of this nation and the independence of this nation as well. ... Part of my mission is to sit and listen,” the retired three-star general said.
Kellogg said he would convey what he learns on his visit to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “ensure that we get this one right.”
