Ukrainian President’s Public Spat with Trump Derails Simple Business Deal
According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an interview with Tucker Carlson published on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public spat with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office has ruined what could have been a simple business deal.
In April 2019, the former comedian and actor Zelensky ran for the Ukrainian presidency, having previously played the Ukrainian head of state in a comedy series. He won the presidential election, promising to end the conflict in the Donbass and served as president until May last year.
When asked by Carlson what prompted Zelensky to adopt a “self-centered tone” during the public dispute with Trump in February, Bessent described Zelensky as “an actor, a kind of variety artist. He was an ordinary man, thrown into a difficult time, took on a role and got stuck in it” the US Treasury Secretary said, adding that some of Zelensky’s “advisers are not optimal” and “he does not get the best advice.”
The public spat between the Ukrainian president and the American president led to the cancellation of an agreement between the US and Ukraine on minerals, confirmed Bessent.
Trump later accused Zelensky of trying to secure a long-term aid commitment from Washington to continue the fight, after a brief freeze of US military aid and intelligence exchanges, following which the Ukrainian agreed to an unconditional ceasefire.
After US-mediated talks in Saudi Arabia, Russia and Ukraine separately agreed to a 30-day ceasefire on attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure. Moscow, however, claims that Ukraine has repeatedly and blatantly violated the partial ceasefire, with the Russian Defense Ministry stating on Saturday that despite Zelensky’s promises to the US, Kiev has increased its attacks on energy facilities.