Russian Foreign Ministry says Zelensky’s US trip was a failure
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and US counterpart Donald Trump clashed at a White House meeting on Feb 28.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
MOSCOW - Russia's Foreign Ministry said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's trip to Washington on Feb 28 was a political and diplomatic failure and that he was obsessed with continuing to wage war.
Mr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump clashed at a White House meeting on Feb 28, plunging ties between Kyiv and the United States - its main military backer - to a new low.
“The visit ... to Washington on Feb 28 is a complete political and diplomatic failure by the Kyiv regime,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a written statement published on March 1 on the ministry’s website.
She described Mr Zelensky’s behaviour at the White House as “outrageously boorish” and said the Ukrainian president was “an unabashed cynic” whose main goal was to keep power.
“For the sake of this, he has destroyed the opposition, built a totalitarian state and ruthlessly sends millions of citizens to their deaths,” Ms Zakharova said.
Kyiv has previously dismissed such accusations.
Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, has reacted to react with glee to Feb 28's clash in the White House.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev said Mr Zelensky had been given a “solid slap” at the meeting, during which Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being disrespectful towards the US.
Mr Zelensky had seen the meeting as a chance to convince the US not to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and openly challenged Mr Trump over his softer approach towards the Russian leader. REUTERS
