US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that his treasury secretary was treated “rudely” during an official visit to Kyiv, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of “sleeping” and failing to make a deal.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent met Zelenskiy in Ukraine’s capital last week to discuss granting Washington access to rare earth minerals in return for security support.
“Scott Bessent actually went there and was treated rather rudely, because essentially, they told him: ‘No,’” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, adding: “And Zelenskiy was sleeping and unavailable to meet him.”
Photo: Reuters
Bessent “traveled many hours on the train, which is a dangerous trip, and we’re talking about the secretary of the treasury,” Trump said. “He went there to get a document signed, and when he got there, he came back empty. They wouldn’t sign the document.”
The remarks came after Trump branded the Ukrainian president a “dictator” who refuses to hold elections and said the Russians “have the cards” in any negotiation to end the war.
Zelenskiy earlier said that Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation” bubble, responding to comments by the US president about Zelenskiy’s popularity rating.
Trump has criticized US military funding for Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia and suggested this month that he wanted an agreement to access Ukraine’s rare earth material as a condition to sustain support.
Bessent was dispatched to Kyiv on Wednesday last week to discuss the matter, the first member of Trump’s Cabinet to visit Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would like to meet with Trump.
“I would like to have a meeting, but it needs to be prepared so that it brings results,” Putin said on Wednesday in televised remarks.
He said that he would be “pleased” to meet Trump, but added that Trump has acknowledged that a Ukrainian settlement could take longer than he initially hoped.
Additional reporting by AP
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