Donald Trump on Friday, February 21, said he doesn't consider it essential for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be present at negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. "I don't think he's very important to be in meetings," Trump said in an audio interview with Fox News. "He's been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals."
Later, the US president added that Ukrainian leaders "don't have any cards" in the talks. "I've had very good talks with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, and I've had not such good talks with Ukraine. They don't have any cards, but they play it tough. But we're not going to let this continue," Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House Friday.
Kyiv and Europe have complained of being sidelined after Trump opened talks with Moscow over ending the war, which began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian and top diplomats met in Saudi Arabia earlier this week to talk about a ceasefire and Kyiv was not invited.
Tensions with Kyiv soared further when the Republican president branded Zelensky a "dictator" and falsely claimed Ukraine had "started" the war. "He complains that he's not in a meeting that we're having with Saudi Arabia trying to intermediate peace," Trump said in his interview Friday. "He's been in a meeting for three years and nothing got done."
The White House insisted that Ukraine will "in the very short term" sign a deal granting Washington access to its mineral deposits that was previously rejected by President Volodymyr Zelensky over its lack of security guarantees.
"Look, here's the bottom line, President Zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine," National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told attendees at a conservative conference on the outskirts of the capital Washington on Friday.
Kyiv has said the deal is still on the table despite an extraordinary break between Zelensky and Trump.