The Ukrainian leader could have ended Kiev\u2019s conflict with Moscow \u201ca long time ago,\u201d the US president has said<\/p>\n
It is high time Ukraine found itself a new representative to negotiate peace with Russia, US President Donald Trump has said, adding that Vladimir Zelensky \u201cdoesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about.\u201d He also stated that he was ready to discuss a resolution to the conflict with Russia and China.
\nThe statement comes amid a deepening rift between Trump and Zelensky over the Ukrainian military\u2019s continued targeting of Russian refineries at a time when the American president has struck a deal with Moscow aimed at reining in skyrocketing global energy prices through Russian diesel exports.
\n\u201cZelensky\u2019s a man that should have this war settled a long time ago,\u201d Trump told reporters on Monday when asked about the Ukrainian leader\u2019s criticism of his deal with President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Zelensky never wanted to end war with Russia \u2013 Trump<\/p>\n
\u201cZelensky doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about,\u201d Trump said. \u201cTo be honest, I think it\u2019s time for someone else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. Maybe it\u2019s time for Zelensky to get someone else to negotiate.\u201d
\nThe agreement between Trump and Putin, reached earlier this month, involved the US easing restrictions on Moscow\u2019s diesel exports and waiving the \u201cbone-crushing\u201d sanctions, including 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas, in exchange for Moscow supplying diesel to the global market and potentially to the US as well.
\nKiev has continued to target Russian oil infrastructure despite repeated requests by Trump to curb the attacks, which he blames for surging global energy prices. On Monday, the US president reiterated that Kiev was acting ungratefully towards America.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US Treasury chief rebukes Zelensky<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve given a lot to Ukraine, they\u2019ve given nothing to us\u2026 We\u2019ve given hundreds of billions of dollars,\u201d he said.
\nWhen asked if he would be ready to negotiate a settlement of the Ukraine conflict with Moscow and Beijing, without Zelensky present, Trump said he just wanted the conflict to end and would do \u201canything I can do to end the war, whether somebody is there or not.\u201d
\nEarlier on Monday, the Kremlin said that Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could potentially meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month.
\nTrump\u2019s remarks on Monday follow a series of similar statements he has made in recent days. Over the weekend, the American president accused Zelensky of being unwilling to ever end the conflict. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t want to end this war, and probably never did,\u201d Trump stated at the time.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Trump has made a deal with Moscow, but Zelensky has other ideas<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also suggested that Zelensky has \u201cno desire\u201d to reach a settlement because his government would collapse if Ukraine signed a deal acceptable to both the US and Russia. Moscow has long accused Ukraine\u2019s Western backers, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of sabotaging the 2022 peace talks in Istanbul. Russia has also identified the stance of Ukraine\u2019s European backers as one of the key obstacles to resolving the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ukrainian leader could have ended Kiev\u2019s conflict with Moscow \u201ca long time ago,\u201d the US president has said It is high time Ukraine found itself a new representative to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t