Trump says Zelenskyy need not attend Ukraine talks

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

US President Donald Trump believes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not need to be present at the talks with Russia.

This was reported by CBS News journalist Jennifer Jacobs on the social network X.

«I don't think it's very important for him to be at the meetings», Trump said of Zelensky.

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According to her, President Trump also called US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's trip to Ukraine «useless».

«Frankly, I wish he hadn't gone there», says Donald Trump about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. «It was a wasted trip», she quoted.

As a reminder, US President Donald Trump criticised President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him «a dictator without elections». According to him, Volodymyr Zelenskyy admits that half of the money sent by the US «has disappeared».

In his turn, US Vice President J.D. Vance also criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his public statements against Donald Trump.

According to Vance, «publicly slandering» Trump will only worsen the situation, and attempts to change his mind through the media will not work. This statement came a few hours after Zelensky accused Trump of living in «the disinformation space» created by Russia.

Later, Trump's national security adviser Mike Volz said that relations between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy were deteriorating.

Peace talks

Earlier, Donald Trump stated that the United States was conducting constructive negotiations on a full-scale war with Ukraine and the Russian Federation. In particular, he expressed hope that agreements would be reached as soon as possible.

He also claimed that Washington had already made some progress in negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In addition, Donald Trump indicated that his administration had already held discussions with Moscow, but did not specify who participated in such a dialogue. Also, during his phone conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump never said that Europe needs a seat at the table in negotiations on Ukraine.

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that negotiations between the United States and Russia to end the war without Kyiv's participation pose a threat to everyone.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that he was ready to sit down with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for the sake of peace, despite his hostile attitude. He also added that he did not see a ready-made peace plan from Trump, but conveyed his readiness to negotiate.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to «allocate people» to negotiate with Ukraine to end the war. At the same time, he called any such talks «illegitimate».

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine does not recognise the loss of its territories, but is ready for diplomatic solutions to return them if it becomes a NATO member.