"I think that's over." Gen. McCaffrey on NATO

[Kid Berwyn]

49. May have started. After calling for Ukraine surrender, Kellogg pulls 180...

US envoy praises Zelenskyy after Trump’s censure of the Ukrainian leader

by Illia Novikov
Associated Press, February 21, 2025

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia said on Friday that he had held “extensive and positive discussions” with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the three-year war with Russia and praised the Ukrainian leader as an “embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war.”

Retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg — who traveled to Kyiv on Wednesday and whose planned news conference with Zelenskyy on Thursday was changed at the last minute to a simple photo opportunity — struck a positive tone after what he said on the social platform X was “a long and intense day” of talks with Ukraine’s senior leadership.

His comments marked a departure from recent rebukes of Zelenskyy by Trump and other senior U.S. officials that appeared to indicate an abrupt deterioration of relations. Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” and warned him that he’d “ better move fast ” to negotiate an end to the war or risk not having a nation to lead.

The possibility that vital U.S. military aid for Ukraine was in doubt darkened the mood in Kyiv as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold back Russia’s bigger army on the battlefield.

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Polish President Andrzej Duda, whose country has been a vocal supporter of neighboring Ukraine, said Zelenskyy phoned him on Friday. Duda said he told Zelenskyy “to remain committed to the course of calm and constructive cooperation” with Trump.

“We consistently believe there is no other way to stop the bloodshed and achieve lasting peace in Ukraine except with the support of the United States,” Duda said he also told Zelenskyy.

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https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-trump-0bc41d62c4fdfa00b4358f9043ee9991