President Donald Trump's comments regarding Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came after tensions between their respective governments had been building during the previous week, according to reports.
Trump entered office focused on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, but Zelenskyy and his people have been concerned about being left out of negotiations while the U.S. and Russia hold talks in Saudi Arabia.
Ukrainian officials also became upset after being told upcoming meetings with top Trump administration officials could be canceled if they didn't quickly agree to certain demands, NBC News reported Wednesday night.
The Ukrainians were unnerved after being sent mixed messages concerning the country's possibility of joining NATO, and at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth privately saying the U.S may withdraw a significant number of its troops from Europe. The Pentagon insists Hegseth "made no announcement on, nor timeline for, a drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe."
Trump, meanwhile, saw Zelenskyy being reluctant to agree to reasonable asks — ones U.S. and European officials have conceded would be required in a peace deal — after being supplied with billions of dollars in military aid from the U.S.
Trump grew angry at Ukraine's complaints about being excluded from talks between the U.S. and Russia after Zelenskyy had met several times with some of Trump's top advisers, NBC News reported.
"There is frustration," a White House official told the outlet.
The official accused Zelenskyy and some other European leaders of trying to "denigrate" Trump's peace efforts.
CNN reported Thursday that administration officials' frustration boiled over after Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that Trump was living in a "web of disinformation."
At an investment conference in Miami later Wednesday, Trump again expressed this thoughts on Zelenskyy and Ukraine.
"It's a frustration. There is a strong and legitimate feeling that this brutal war has to stop and that this pathway is being diminished through Zelenskyy's public statements," a second official told CNN.
On Wednesday, in his most forceful comments yet, Trump seemingly sought to pressure Zelenskyy in toning down his rhetoric and talk peace with Russia, rebuking the Ukrainian leader for ending democratic elections amid martial law.
"Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and 'TRUMP,' will never be able to settle," Trump wrote in a scathing rebuke.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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