Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump said Wednesday his treasury secretary was treated “rudely” during an official visit to Kyiv, accusing Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of “sleeping” and failing to make a deal.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Zelensky in Ukraine’s capital last week to discuss granting Washington access to rare earth minerals in return for security support. “Scott Bessent actually went there and was treated rather rudely, because essentially, they told him ‘no’,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “And Zelensky was sleeping and unavailable to meet him. Bessent ‘traveled many hours on the train, which is a dangerous trip, and we’re talking about the secretary of the treasury’,” Trump said. “He went there to get a document signed, and when he got there, he came back empty. They wouldn’t sign the document.”
The remarks came after Trump branded the Ukrainian president a “dictator” who refuses to hold elections and said the Russians “have the cards” in any negotiation to end the war. “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Zelensky said earlier Wednesday that Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation” bubble, responding to scathing comments by the US president about Zelensky’s popularity rating. The United States has provided essential funding and arms to Ukraine, but Trump has rattled Kyiv and its European backers by opening talks with Moscow they fear could end the three-year war on terms unacceptable to them.
Trump has criticized US military funding for Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia and suggested this month that he wanted an agreement to access Ukraine’s rare earth material as a condition to sustain support. Bessent was dispatched to Kyiv on February 12 to discuss the matter, the first member of Trump’s cabinet to visit Ukraine.
Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term but has remained leader under martial law imposed following the Russian invasion in February 2022. Under former president Joe Biden, the United States lauded Zelensky as a hero and hammered Moscow with sanctions as Ukraine battled against advancing Russian troops.
© 2024 AFP
