KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A scheduled news conference following talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine was scrapped on Thursday as political tensions intensified between the two nations regarding the ongoing nearly three-year conflict with Russia.
The press event format was altered at the last moment, preventing Zelenskyy and retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg from making statements or taking questions from reporters. This change was requested by the U.S. side, according to Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov.
WATCH: Trump labels Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ while attempting to pressure Kyiv into a deal to conclude the conflict.
Kellogg’s visit to Kyiv coincided with ongoing disputes between Trump and Zelenskyy, straining their personal relations and increasing uncertainty regarding U.S. support for Ukraine’s military efforts.
Nikiforov provided no further explanation, other than stating that the cancellation aligned with U.S. preferences.
The U.S. delegation did not comment immediately. The White House also did not respond instantly to inquiries concerning the reasons for the news conference’s cancellation.
As the meeting commenced, photographers and videographers were permitted into a room where the two leaders greeted each other with a handshake before taking their seats at a table in the presidential office in Kyiv.
The two were set to discuss Trump’s initiatives aimed at concluding the war. Zelenskyy had expressed anticipation in updating Kellogg on the situation in Ukraine.
Kellogg, a key author of a conservative policy framework advocating for an “America First” national security strategy, has long served as Trump’s primary adviser on defense matters.
Zelenskyy and Trump have exchanged criticisms in recent days.
The discord arose after Russia and the U.S. agreed on Tuesday to begin discussions aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine and enhancing their diplomatic and economic relations. This shift marked a sudden departure from three years of U.S. policy aimed at isolating Russia.
Zelenskyy was displeased that a U.S. team initiated the talks without consulting him or including European nations supportive of Kyiv.
In response to Trump’s claim that Zelenskyy was largely unpopular in Ukraine, the president asserted that Trump was caught in a Russian-influenced “disinformation space,” implying he had been misled by Putin.
However, Zelenskyy “maintains a robust level of public trust” — approximately 57 percent — as indicated by a report released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
Trump labeled Zelenskyy “A Dictator without Elections!!” given that Ukraine postponed elections originally scheduled for April 2024 due to the conflict.
Trump further suggested that Ukraine bore some responsibility for the war.
Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, with Putin justifying the action on false claims that it was necessary to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
On Wednesday, Trump cautioned Zelenskyy that he “better move quickly” to negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion or he might risk losing control of his nation.
European leaders also weighed in on the dispute, expressing their support for Zelenskyy.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country has been Kyiv’s second-largest weapons supplier after the U.S., stated it was “incorrect and dangerous” to question Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy.
“Ukraine has been valiantly defending itself for nearly three years against a relentless war of aggression — day after day,” Scholz remarked to the news outlet Der Spiegel.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Zelenskyy on Wednesday, reaffirming his support for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader,” and added that it was “entirely reasonable” to delay elections during wartime.
Meanwhile, Russian officials are relishing the attention from Washington and voicing support for Trump’s position.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked that “the rhetoric of Zelenskyy and many representatives of the Kyiv regime, in general, leaves much to be desired,” a subtle reference to Ukrainian criticism of Putin.
“Representatives of the Ukrainian regime, especially in recent months, have repeatedly made completely unacceptable statements about the leaders of other nations,” Peskov stated during a conference call with reporters.
Amidst the diplomatic strife, Ukrainian civilians continue to endure Russian bombardments. Russia launched 161 Shahed and decoy drones, along with up to 14 missiles of various types at Ukraine from Wednesday to Thursday, according to military authorities.
A Russian glide bomb struck an apartment building in the southern city of Kherson on Wednesday night, resulting in one death and injuring six people, including 14-year-old twins, according to officials.
The southern port city of Odesa suffered another Russian drone attack for the second consecutive night, leaving nearly 50,000 homes without electricity during the freezing winter temperatures, officials reported.
