Trump-Zelenskyy Relations Crack, NATO Secretary General Reminds Russia No Longer Invasion Of Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte/PHOTO via Instagram @minpresrute

JAKARTA - United States (US) Presidential Envoy Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

There is no information yet whether the two negotiations have helped smooth the unprecedented US-Ukraine rift between the two countries.

Zelenskyy previously issued a peace sentence after accusing Trump of repeating Russia's disinformation in response to allegations by the US president that Ukraine started a three-year war with Russia. Trump later called Zelenskiy a "dictator".

Trump has pushed for a quick deal to end the war and has alarmed Washington's allies in Europe by not involving them and Ukraine in initial negotiations with Russia.

His vice president, JD Vance, said on Thursday he believed the conflict was imminent and no one could stop the war without speaking to Russia.

Trump's envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said when he arrived in Kyiv he was there to listen.

Kellogg met Zelenskiy on Thursday but there has been no immediate statement from either side regarding the outcome of the meeting.

Trump is working to rebuild relations with Russia and also invest in Ukraine's mineral resources that are important to the energy transition.

Ukraine rejected the US initial plan for not including security guarantees.

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Thursday Ukraine should hold back criticism of the United States and agree to a mineral deal.

"They need to reduce it and consider it carefully and sign the deal," he told Fox News.

European leaders responded to Trump's concrete changes to Ukraine by pledging to increase defense spending.

Some of them are considering deploying US-backed European peacekeepers to the country.

The Kremlin said the plan raised major concerns but Zelenskiy and NATO welcomed the plan.

"It is very important that Russia will never again try to take another square kilometer of Ukrainian soil," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said.

"Although there is still much to be decided on, there is no doubt that Europe has an important role in ensuring peace in Ukraine," he told reporters in Bratislava.