OMM Newsroom
US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian leader was “more difficult to deal with than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin”. Reuters reported the comments.
Speaking to US outlet Newsmax on Thursday evening, Trump also described Ukraine’s renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries as “a disgrace”. He said the attacks were pushing up global oil prices and that Ukraine had “a lot of targets” it could hit.
Zelensky had paused strikes on Russian energy targets for three days at Trump’s request for a ceasefire. He said on Thursday that Ukraine would resume them because Moscow had not stopped its attacks.
Drone strike injures at least 14 in Kharkiv
Russian attacks on Ukraine continued overnight. Several people were killed in a Russian drone strike in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram. He reported that at least 14 people were injured.
Zelensky has not publicly responded to Trump’s latest remarks. He arrived in Brussels for a summit with European Union leaders alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.
“Of course we supported President Trump’s energy ceasefire but we’ve seen that Russia did not respect it, not a single minute,” von der Leyen told reporters. She said Russia had escalated its actions and that sanctions should be increased, adding that they would not be lifted unless Russia stopped the war.
Zelensky holds talks with European leaders
Trump said Zelensky was “not a good guy for us to deal with” and claimed he did not want to reach a settlement. He also said he was “not a big fan of Zelenskyy”.
Trump’s frustration over the refinery strikes comes after the US announced a deal to import 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel, in an effort to lower fuel prices. Zelensky criticised the deal, calling it a gift to Putin.
During his Brussels visit, Zelensky held a series of meetings with European leaders. On Thursday, he met NATO chief Marke Rutte and the presidents of Poland, France, Denmark and Belgium. A day earlier, he met UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham at No 10 in London.
Zelensky said he would hold talks at Friday’s summit with the heads of the European Council and European Commission, as well as the prime ministers of Hungary, Finland and Sweden.
