Key Putin ally praises Trump as US press conference with Zelenskyy cancelled

Due to the increasingly strained relationship between Kyiv and Washington, a joint press conference scheduled for Thursday between Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and a key advisor to Donald Trump was canceled. Keith Kellogg, the U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Affairs and a retired general, has been in Kyiv this week for talks. This cancellation further exacerbates concerns in Europe, as well as among Ukraine's other allies, about the deepening rift between Kyiv and Washington, which has been Ukraine's biggest supporter during its three-year war with Russia.

The Ukrainian President's office stated that Kellogg met with Zelenskyy on Thursday local time, but the subsequent press conference that was expected to be held was canceled at the request of the United States. The change came just a day after Trump described Zelenskyy as a "dictator" on social media, saying he was doing a "very bad job." The new U.S. President has made it clear that he would rather negotiate with Moscow than with Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine, giving some people ample reason to worry.

Earlier this week, Trump reiterated the Kremlin's lie that Ukraine was responsible for starting the war, prompting Zelenskyy to assert that Trump was living in Russia's "information space of falsehoods." Trump's remarks have been widely criticized, including by Australia, where opposition leader Peter Dutton said the U.S. leader had "got it wrong." Dutton said in an interview with 2GB radio, "Australia should stand firmly and proudly with the people of Ukraine. This is a democracy, this is a fight for civilization. Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator and we shouldn't cede an inch to him."

Meanwhile, officials in Moscow are reveling in the shift in White House foreign policy. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, still a key ally of current leader Vladimir Putin, praised Trump on social media, saying he was "two hundred percent right." He wrote, "If you had told me three months ago that these were the words of the President of the United States, I would have burst out laughing."

Nonetheless, Kellogg's visit to Ukraine was overshadowed by remarks from senior U.S. officials, including the President and Defense Minister Pete Hegseth. Both suggested the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia as part of peace negotiations, as well as the possibility of rejecting Zelenskyy's request for his country to join NATO. U.S. Vice President JD Vance defended Trump's move, stating, "How are you going to end the war unless you talk to Russia? If you actually want to end the conflict, you have to talk to everybody who's involved in the fighting."

Within the Trump administration, some Republicans have condemned his criticism of Zelenskyy and his overtures to the Kremlin. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy said Putin was "a thug" and stated, "I trust this guy as far as I can throw a gas station sushi."