**Washington (AFP)** – Donald Trump’s national security advisor told Kyiv Thursday to stop hurling “insults” at the US president, while refusing to say that Russia was responsible for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “Some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable,” Mike Waltz told a briefing at the White House to mark Trump’s first month in office. “President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with President Zelensky, the fact that he hasn’t come to the table, that he hasn’t been willing to take this opportunity that we have offered.”
Trump and Zelensky have been in a war of words since Washington opened talks in Saudi Arabia with Moscow on a potential deal to end the nearly three-year conflict. Zelensky has also rejected a deal that would give the US access to vast amounts of Ukrainian natural resources as the new president insists on getting a return on American aid. Trump branded Zelensky a “dictator without elections” on Tuesday after the Ukrainian complained about being excluded from the talks. Zelensky, who met Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, has warned the US president is living in a Russian “disinformation” bubble.
Waltz pushed Ukraine to accept the minerals deal, saying it was a “historic opportunity… for America to co-invest with Ukraine in their minerals.” However, the national security advisor skirted the question when asked who he thought was responsible for the war, and whether he viewed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a dictator too. US allies have reacted with shock after Trump said on Tuesday that Ukraine “started it” and then doubled down with his comments about Zelensky. “He’s focused on the fighting and moving forward, and we could argue all day long about what’s happened in the past,” Waltz said of Trump.
Earlier, Waltz had told Fox News that the Ukrainians “need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal.” He also denied that Ukraine has been cut out of Trump’s talks with Russia over ending the war, insisting that there was “plenty of engagement and dialogue” with Kyiv as well as European allies. “This is a common sense plan. They may not like it but we’re going to drive it forward and everybody will stop squawking when the fighting ends,” Waltz said.
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the White House on Monday, followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the briefing. Both leaders have suggested sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers in the event of a deal. “We welcome that,” Waltz told the briefing, before adding that Washington had “made it clear for years, decades even” that it could not bear the financial burden for defending Europe. “It’s time for our European allies to step up,” he added.
© 2024 AFP
