Ukraine’s president is fighting a war on two fronts – against Russian forces on the ground and against American assaults over the airwaves
Ukraine’s president appears to be fighting a war on two fronts – against Russian forces on the ground and against American assaults over the airwaves.
View from Ukraine by Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor
With Donald Trump openly attacking him, Ukraine’s president is dispensing with the diplomatic niceties towards a crucial partner and is instead fighting back.
It is a risky move given the heavy reliance of Volodymyr Zelenskyy on American military support to fight Russia’s invasion and the US leader’s dislike of criticism.
But the past week of disruptive, strongman diplomacy from the White House – upending traditional assumptions about US support for European and Ukrainian security – has clearly been too much for Kyiv to stomach without speaking back, and bluntly.
Mr Zelenskyy used a press conference inside the presidential compound on Wednesday to say the American commander in chief is surrounded by a circle of disinformation after Mr Trump falsely claimed Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s war and that Mr Zelenskyy has a public approval rating of just 4%.
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Trump living in ‘disinformation space’
The US president is pushing for elections in Ukraine – something that would be very difficult to conduct while the country is still under Russian missile and drone attack and with hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fighting on the frontline.
Mr Zelenskyy said the most recent surveys showed 57% of the population supported him – a similar rating to Mr Trump.
He also issued his strongest criticism yet of an attempt by the Trump administration to make Kyiv sign away half of the wealth it has from rare minerals and other natural resources – equal in value to about $500bn.
Mr Zelenskyy said he could not “sell our state”, adding this was not a “serious” conversation.
But he knows that he does need to have serious dialogue with Washington even after President Trump picked up the phone to Vladimir Putin a week ago, kicking off a thawing of ties between Moscow and Washington that led to a meeting of top US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and plans for a summit between the American and Russian presidents.
A first step will be engaging with Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general currently Mr Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia, who arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday morning – though was curiously absent from the Saudi Arabia talks despite his job title.
Ukraine’s president said he will talk with Mr Kellogg and would like to take him to visit the frontline and speak to soldiers to understand their view, while also talking to members of the public in the capital to hear what they have to say about the war, Mr Zelenskyy’s efforts and also the comments by Mr Trump.
The envoy, speaking to a small group of journalists when he stepped on the train, said he was there to listen and report back to Mr Trump.
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US ‘will listen’ to Kyiv’s concerns
Asked how confident he was that he would be able to bring Mr Zelenskyy to the negotiating table, Mr Kellogg said: “I’m always confident.”
The coming days will tell whether that confidence is well placed.
Read more:
Trump’s diplomacy does not look good for Ukraine
Trump ‘disappointed’ by Ukraine’s reaction to talks
View from Russia by Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
Volodymyr Zelenskyy had the appearance of a beleaguered leader who knows he is now fighting a war on two fronts – against Russian forces on the ground and against American assaults over the airwaves.
Ukraine’s leader looked almost shell-shocked from Donald Trump’s verbal volleys last night, in which the US president accused Kyiv of starting the war.
President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday. Pic: Reuters
What has been Ukraine’s biggest supporter now suddenly poses an existential threat. But for now, Mr Zelenskyy is fighting back.
He accused Mr Trump of being “trapped in a disinformation bubble” – that he has not just drunk the Kremlin’s Kool-Aid, but is now bathing in it.
He pushed back on Mr Trump’s spurious claims of only having a 4% approval rating, calling it propaganda from Russia. Moscow has repeatedly tried to portray Mr Zelenskyy as an illegitimate leader, due to his term expiring under martial law.
In reality, his numbers are similar to Mr Trump’s, which should resonate with a man who became obsessed with TV ratings during his first term.
But it seems that facts do not always matter now to the White House.
And he was extremely dismissive – to the point of ridicule, almost – of the proposed US/Ukraine mineral deal.
“Not a serious conversation”, he said, rejecting Mr Trump’s business-first approach. Mr Zelenskyy still wants the focus on Ukraine’s scorched earth, not rare earths.
His messages and manner are in stark contrast to those of Vladimir Putin.
Ever since the US election in November, the Russian president has sought to flatter Mr Trump, sympathise with him and be deferential, even when responding to barbs.
And in Riyadh yesterday, Moscow began reaping the rewards.
But Mr Zelenskyy’s position is different, of course. Once the man of the moment, he’s now struggling to stay relevant – in danger of being run down by the Donald Trump deal-making juggernaut.
For now, he’s standing in the road trying to stop it. But any hope that it will change course or hit the brakes may be misplaced.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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