WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted Thursday he felt snubbed by President Trump calling Russian leader Vladimir Putin first the previous day — saying it was “not pleasant.”
“I don’t think it was a priority that he talked to Russia first. Although it’s really not very pleasant,” Zelensky told reporters before arguing that negotiations with the Kremlin should only commence after “a plan to stop Putin has been worked out.”
“As an independent country we simply cannot accept any agreements without us,” the Ukrainian leader said, according to CNN. “And I articulate this very clearly to our partners: We will not accept any bilateral negotiations on Ukraine without us.”
The Ukrainian president emphasized that Kyiv needs to be part of negotiations to end the war. via REUTERS
President Trump announced his calls with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders on Wednesday. Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI/ShutterstockTrump scoffed when asked about the blowback later Thursday — after criticizing Zelensky in the past as the “greatest salesman on Earth” for scoring $183 billion in US aid.
“Somebody said, ‘Oh, I should have called Zelensky first.’ I don’t think so. I mean, we have to find out whether or not Russia wants to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I know that Zelensky wants to make a deal because he told me that, but I now know that Russia wants to make a deal.”
On Wednesday, Trump publicly revealed that he spoke with Putin on the phone and claimed that the US and Russia had agreed to talk “immediately” about bringing Europe’s largest and bloodiest conflict since World War II to a close.
Only after announcing the Putin call did Trump speak with Zelensky, who described their chat as a “meaningful conversation” about “opportunities to achieve peace.”
“No one wants peace more than Ukraine,” Zelensky said Wednesday. “Together with the US, we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Ukraine and met with Zelensky this week to discuss Trump’s goal of obtaining access to the country’s vast mineral resources in return for US security assistance.
“Great talks with Russia and Ukraine yesterday,” Trump posted to Truth Social Thursday about the two calls. “Good possibility of ending that horrible, very bloody war!!”
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has praised President Trump’s initial overtures to end the war. APLast week, Trump revealed to The Post that he had already spoken with Putin, but did not elaborate on what was discussed or when the conversations took place.
“Zelensky will have to do what he has to do,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “But his poll numbers are not particularly great, to put it mildly.”
Still, the US president also suggested that he wouldn’t necessarily end American aid to Ukraine immediately because “Putin would say he’s won.”
Last month, Trump also threatened Moscow with “high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”
Zelensky also suggested in an interview published Tuesday by The Guardian that he was open to a negotiated settlement, saying: “We will swap one territory for another. I don’t know, we will see. But all our territories are important, there is no priority.”
Ukraine currently possesses land in Russia’s Kursk region thanks to a successful military operation back in August of last year.
