Zelensky tries to calm Trump's anger and calls for "constructive" collaboration

BarcelonaFollowing the falsehoods, inaccuracies and insults hurled over the past thirty-six hours by the President of the United States against Volodymyr Zelensky, The Ukrainian leader seems to have backtracked a bit to try to calm things down a bit. On Wednesday morning he accused Donald Trump of living in a "disinformation bubble" created by Russia, but hours later, in his usual evening speech, Zelensky stressed that it is "crucial that global discussion and cooperation with the United States remains constructive." Just what it has not been since Trump's announcement of a call with Vladimir Putin on February 9.

"Together with America and Europe, peace can be more secure," Zelensky said. "This is our goal," he continued. "But the important thing is that this goal must be shared by our partners, not just us." Zelensky's comment came hours before he met in Kiev on Thursday with Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, who arrived in the Ukrainian capital yesterday morning.

Kellogg said upon arriving in Kiev that he was going to "listen to the concerns of the Ukrainians." Zelensky and Trump's envoy have already met, according to Ukrainian media, but the joint press conference that was scheduled to end has been cancelled at the request of the United States, according to the Ukrainian president's office.

Dialectical tension

On the other hand, after Trump accused Zelensky of being a "dictator", various European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Olaf Scholz, Mette Frederiksen and Pedro Sánchez, rejected the statements of the President of the United States. In this regard, Sánchez has announced that on Monday, when the deadline is the third anniversary of the invasion Macron and Starmer, in turn, will travel to the United States next week, in a new and desperate attempt to rein in Trump, a mission that at this point seems unlikely, in a context of reestablishing the Communications between the White House and the Kremlin and contempt for Europe and Ukraine from the historic transatlantic ally.

Interest in natural resources

On Thursday, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz added fuel to the fire, saying that the Ukrainian government should "tone down." He also said that Kiev should sign the agreement proposed by Washington in Ukraine on natural resources. Zelensky revealed on Wednesday that last week the US proposed that Ukraine give them 50% of its natural resources, especially minerals and rare earths key to technological development, as compensation for the aid it has received during the war. "We have presented the Ukrainians with an incredible and historic opportunity: for the US to invest in Ukraine, boost its economy, its natural resources and become a partner for its future in a sustainable way. This would be the best security guarantee they could hope for, much more than any other shipment of ammunition," Waltz argued in "an argument."

The events of the last few days have been much more than welcomed by the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday rejected the possible presence of Western peacekeeping troops in Ukraine. "The deployment of military contingents of NATO countries on Ukrainian territory cannot be acceptable to us," he said, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Peskov thus reaffirmed the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who on Wednesday said that Russia would not accept such a move. peacekeeping forces of NATO countries in Ukraine under any peace agreement. Earlier this week UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would consider the sending of British troops to Ukraine if a lasting peace agreement were reached.