Tensions have flared once again between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump. The former U.S. President referred to his Ukrainian counterpart as “the greatest salesman in the world” and warned that he would not spend “any more money” on Ukraine.
This rhetoric creates a difficult prelude to the meetings between Ukrainian and American delegations on the peace process, announced by Zelensky for next weekend in Washington. Complicating matters further, the former president and business tycoon revealed he has spoken again with Vladimir Putin following a phone call last Monday, which occurred while he was hosting the Ukrainian leader and European officials at the White House. “We had a good conversation, all of our conversations are good,” Trump emphasized.
These developments come just hours after Zelensky publicly criticized U.S. Vice President JD Vance. Vance, who initiated the famous altercation in the Oval Office on February 28th, stated on Sunday that the Russian president had made “important concessions to Donald Trump for the first time in three and a half years” of conflict, adding that Russia had proven “very flexible on some of its fundamental demands.” President Zelensky strongly refuted this claim. “Regarding Russia’s concessions,” he stated, “I know nothing about them. I do not believe the statements from the Russian side—that they are ready to stop occupying Ukraine—are concessions. I do not consider it a concession that they are offering us to withdraw from territories that Russia does not control.” He also pointedly noted that it was the U.S. that “proposed, on March 7th,” a ceasefire, which Trump now believes is unnecessary to start peace negotiations.
Trump’s latest attack on Zelensky was undeterred by the Ukrainian president’s planned meeting with U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg ahead of the Washington talks. “We don’t spend any more money on Ukraine, we deal with NATO and not with Ukraine,” affirmed the former White House occupant, reiterating his position from last month that American weapons sent to Kyiv should from now on be paid for by European countries. Trump added that Zelensky, whenever he left the White House, “would walk away with millions of dollars.” On the difficulties in organizing a summit between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Trump dismissed them by saying, “Putin does not want to meet Zelensky because he does not like him,” and that “the war in Ukraine has turned out to be a clash of personalities.”
Also concerning for Kyiv and European nations is Trump’s assertion that specific security guarantees for Ukraine have not been discussed so far, even if the United States would be involved in providing them. These statements contrast with those from European sources close to the negotiations, who report that over the last ten days, the U.S. has focused on this dossier and “significant progress” has been made. Meanwhile, German Chancellery spokesman Stefan Kornelius warned that “long negotiations will be necessary” to achieve peace, given the “complexity” of the situation. “The war in Ukraine will certainly not end in a week,” he insisted.
In a separate development, China has flatly denied a report by Welt am Sonntag. The German newspaper, citing European diplomatic sources, had written that Beijing was ready to send UN-mandated peacekeeping forces to Ukraine. “The reports in question are not true,” stated Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
On the ground, Moscow’s Defense Ministry has claimed the capture of another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, which is not among the four regions—along with Crimea, annexed in 2014—previously claimed by Russia.