Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued an emotional statement in the wake of a horrific Russian strike on civilians, claiming it appeared the US was unwilling to help defend his nation.
Pointing to negotiations between Russia and the US over joint energy investments, including through the Nord Stream pipeline, Zelenskyy suggested the Trump administration should forego pursuing economic ties with the Kremlin in favour of supporting efforts to end its invasion.
He also called out US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had earlier suggested the war had reached a “stalemate”.
“Where’s the truth here, where’s the honesty? Where’s the stalemate?” Ukraine’s leader said.
The diplomatic stoush is likely to further strain relations between Washington and Kyiv, and comes just days after Donald Trump told reporters he was due to call Vladimir Putin on the Russian leader’s birthday.
What prompted Zelenskyy’s outburst?
A horrific airstrike in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk left at least 33 people dead on Thursday, with the death toll expected to climb further.
Russian glide bombs hit two civilian busses in the front line city, leaving at least another 18 people wounded.
‘The Russians are deliberately targeting civilians. For them, a bus full of passengers is an attractive target precisely because a single strike can kill as many people as possible,” said regional governor Vadym Filashkin in a statement posted to Telegram.
The attack is one of the deadliest strikes on civilians throughout the conflict and comes in a week where Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Ukraine.
In a statement, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said at least 85 civilians had reportedly been killed and 346 others injured in Russian strikes since Monday.
“Deliberate attacks on civilians could amount to war crimes,” he added.
Türk was joined by a host of European leaders in condemning the attack, including British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who described Russia’s escalating attacks as “deplorable”.
Ukraine has increasingly struggled to ward of Russian airstrikes due to a shortage of interceptor missiles, including US Patriot systems.
In addition to fresh military support from the US and other allies, Zelenskyy has also been calling on the Trump administration to expand Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite service to help it target Russian ballistic-missile launchers.
US officials, though, have largely dragged their feet on both counts, despite claims from Ukraine the additional support could shift momentum and bring Putin to the negotiating table.
Russian glide bombs hit two civilian busses (Photo: Press service of the National Police of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)What has the US said about the war?
Trump and other US officials have been largely muted about the war in recent weeks.
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff travelled to Ukraine for the first time last month, but discussions largely fell flat due to the Kremlin’s unwillingness to compromise.
Kushner and Witkoff are due to hold further talks with Ukrainian and other European officials on Friday, with an unnamed source telling Agence France-Presse “new ideas” to end the war were set to be examined.
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Portugal on Thursday, Rubio said the US “will continue to try” and broker a settlement between Russia and Ukraine as he maintained the conflict had reached a “stalemate”.
“This war needs to end in a negotiated settlement. The sooner, the better. The United States stands ready to facilitate that,” the Secretary of State said.
“We have tried. We will continue to try, but we’re also not going to invest in pointless processes if we can’t make progress.”
Those comments drew the ire of Zelenskyy, who alluded to Ukraine’s battlefield progress despite increasing Russian bombardment.
He also noted Kushner, a key mediator in talks to end the war, had apparently played a lead role in talks about bringing a US investor into the Nord Stream pipeline.
“One cannot, on the one hand, negotiate with the Russians about future economic projects, whilst on the other hand say that we find ourselves in some sort of… diplomatic stalemate,” Zelenskyy said.
The outburst is reflective of widespread concerns the Trump administration favours ties with Russia over helping Ukraine defend its statehood.
Trump has done little to allay those fears, repeatedly citing Kremlin talking points on the war and chastising Zelenskyy both in public and privately.
He has also sought to maintain a close relationship with Putin, despite the Russian leader having been largely ostracised on the world stage since launching his invasion.
In a sign his affection for Putin is unlikely to waver, Trump, earlier this week, confirmed he had scheduled a call with Russia’s President apparently coinciding with his birthday.
Asked by reporters what he was set to discuss, Trump made no mention of Ukraine, or Russia’s latest attacks.
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